MAXXI is Italy’s first national museum devoted to contemporary creativity, set on Via Guido Reni in Rome’s Flaminio district. Zaha Hadid designed it on the site of a former military barracks, and it opened in 2010. Visitors come for the building as much as for the art and architecture shows inside (source: [MAXXI](https://www.maxxi.art/en/)).
Hadid’s design won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2010. Its curving concrete galleries overlap and cross one another, and black steel staircases float through a full-height atrium. Fins in the glass roof filter natural light onto the walls. On the top level, Gallery 5 cantilevers over the entrance and ends in a huge window facing the neighborhood. The institution runs two museums, MAXXI Arte and MAXXI Architettura. Their collections and rotating exhibitions cover painting, installation, photography, design and urbanism. The open piazza out front is free to enter, and it often hosts large-scale installations and summer events.
Visitor Highlights & Practical Info
MAXXI is closed on Mondays and generally opens from late morning into the evening, Tuesday through Sunday. Check current hours and ticket prices on the official site before you go (source: [inItaly](https://www.initaly.it/en/articolo/maxxi-roma-2026-orari-biglietti-prezzi-e-come-arrivare-8380)). Weekday mornings are the quietest time to visit. Weekends and exhibition openings draw the biggest crowds, so book tickets online when a major show is running.
To get there, take Metro A to Flaminio, then Tram 2 north to the Apollodoro stop, a short walk away. Allow around two hours for your visit. Afterward, you can walk to Renzo Piano’s Auditorium Parco della Musica nearby.
