Viator Rome

It might seem a bit macabre, but when you consider all those tortured saints in Italian art then going to see forms of crime and punishment at The Criminal Museum in Rome suddenly seems less weird. Housed in an old 19th century prison building, the place has an authentically oppressive feel, especially as you have to pass through a security check just to go inside. This is because the police still use some offices within the building.

It’s not really surprising that the oldest public museum in the world is in Rome. Or that it sits on Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills Rome was founded on. Nor that it holds some great masterpieces.