Museo della Città

Tivoli's Museo della Città occupies the eighteenth-century Palazzo della Missione, a building with a layered history as a missionary residence, correctional institution and civic museum. Its collections document the medieval city and its churches.

Why it matters

The building's history reflects several periods of Tivoli's social history. Bernardino della Torre built it in 1729 as a residence for the Missionari di San Vincenzo de' Paoli. After 1870 it became a state correction house for minors, known locally as “I Discoli.” The May 1944 bombing damaged the building. The municipality designated it as the city museum in 1981, and in December 2021 the State property agency returned the building to the municipality after restoration of its first three floors.

What to notice

The five-floor palace stands behind the church of the Annunziata, with which it forms a complex. The building was constructed by the Missionari di San Vincenzo de' Paoli and modelled on the Chiesa e Casa della Missione in Rome's Montecitorio quarter. A care institution had occupied the site since the fourteenth century. The museum's collections interpret Tivoli's churches, city walls and medieval tower houses through paintings, mosaic pavements, sculpture and documents.

Context and history

The palace's timeline begins in 1729 as a residence for the missionaries of San Vincenzo de' Paoli. After 1870 the state used it as a correction house for minors; “I Discoli” became its local name. The 1944 bombing left the building damaged, and the municipality designated it as a museum in 1981. A 1987 decree recognised the complex's historical and landscape importance. An agreement in November 2021 between the Ministry of Culture's Lazio Secretariat, the Agenzia del Demanio and the Mayor of Tivoli formalised its destination as the future Museo della Città. Earlier exhibitions addressed Piranesi's Tivoli and the area's Roman villas.