Italy saw a record number of visitors to its state museums in 2023, Rome’s Ministry of Culture reported, as tourists flocked to the Mediterranean country’s impressive collection of monuments and archaeological sites.
Just under 58 million visits were counted to Italian state museums, surpassing the previous record of 55 million set in 2018, before the coronavirus pandemic. The figure was also a significant increase from 46 million in 2022.
The most visited attraction was the Colosseum in the capital Rome with 12 million visitors, worth an estimated €80 million ($86.4 million). Next on the list were the Pantheon in Rome with 9 million visitors and the Uffizi Gallery in the center of Florence, which attracted 2.7 million guests.
The archaeological site of Pompeii, which was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius near Naples in Roman times, the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence and the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome complete the list.
Italy has more than 400 state museums with a total turnover of €314 million in 2023, an increase of 34% compared to the previous year.
The Vatican Museums, which attract more than 6 million visitors a year to famous sights such as the Sistine Chapel, are not included in the figures because they are located in Vatican City.
