Rome’s Centrale Montemartini Museum is an exciting mixture of ancient art and industrial machinery under one roof.
Not far from the Coliseum and the Pyramid of Cestius
In the Ostiense district, not far from the Coliseum and on the same street as the Pyramid of Cestius opposite the former General Market, you can see an extraordinary and successful example of how an industrial building can be transformed into a museum. After Rome’s former electricity production plant was cleaned up they transferred a selection of sculptures and archaeological findings from the Capitoline Museums to the complex. And the ancient masterpieces – uncovered in the 18th and 19th centuries during excavations around the city - found themselves with some strange bedfellows: gigantic steam engines and other heavy industrial machinery. 
Cleopatra’s Head and a Papal train
The result is a happy combination of ancient and not-so-ancient, as Roman statues rub shoulders with outdated machinery, as was summed up perfectly by the first exhibition which was called Machines and Gods. Among the many old masterpieces on display the Head of Cleopatra attracts a lot of attention as does the red marble statue of Marsia, a mythological figure, and that of the 2nd-century pensive Seated Girl. Since its opening new areas have been cleared to make space for more archaeological objects from the Capitoline Museums, displaying works that have languished in their warehouses for years, and up to now were never seen by the public. More recently, in November 2016 after several renovations, the museum got another new hall, where the famous coaches of the train used by Pope Pius IX are now on view.
Old and not-so-old live in perfect symbiosis
The grandiose rooms of the old power station, and in particular the engine room with its Art Nouveau furnishings, still preserve turbines, diesel engines and even a colossal steam boiler. In this fascinating and evocative setting, the antique marbles seem to shine with a new light, the heavy and cumbersome machines somehow bringing out all their transparent clarity and refined workmanship.
For information: www.turismoroma.it/it/luoghi/centrale-montemartini
