Accessibility
Accessibility and guided tours for visitors with various degrees of disability
The Galleria Borghese is a historical building created in the first half of the 17th century. Its rich heritage of works of art is located on the ground floor and first floor, while the area dedicated to museum services, for example the ticket office, bookshop, cafeteria and toilets, is located below.
People with disabilities or reduced mobility will be able to access it using the stair lift located to the left of the external staircase on the front facade.
To begin the visit to the museum, the entrance at the back of the building, in Piazzale Scipione Borghese n. 5 can be used in order to avoid the flight of stairs. This door will allow entrance to the sculpture floor of the museum, which can be visited in its entirety.
To reach the second floor, it is possible to use the elevator which, for reasons related to the ancient structure of the building, has a reduced space capacity and does not allow the entrance of large wheelchairs. Therefore, the Galleria Borghese provides small wheelchairs that can fit inside the elevator and take the visitors to the second floor, where the Pinacoteca is located. It is however required that visitors leave their personal wheelchair and use the one provided by the museum. On the second floor there will be wheelchairs of a more comfortable size to continue the visit pleasantly.
In order to meet all needs and make your visit easier, it is advisable to contact us at the following number +39 0667233753 or writing to ga-bor.accessibilita@cultura.gov.it
Finally, we remind you that people with disabilities and one of their family members or companions are entitled to free tickets. For more information please visit this page
Guided tours
The Museum offers guided tours free of charge for visitors with various degrees of disability. They are conducted by the V.A.M.I. (Associated Volunteers for Italian Museums) upon reservation by phoning +39 0685357564.
This service provides for motor, psychiatric and psychological disabilities, as well as visual ones for blind visitors and ones with impaired eyesight.
Some tours for blind visitors are conducted by blind pedagogical consultants who have studied at the Rome V.A.M.I.
Fragile Publics
Cultural mediation projects
The Galleria Borghese has recently opened its doors to fragile publics, to whom it currently dedicates an informal course of study on the history of the Museum and its collection. The aim is to offer people with disabilities experiences of active participation as part of a comprehensive programme of inclusion to make the Museum a place for Everyone, as established by the bylaws of the International Council of Museums (ICOM): “The museum is a permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public.”
For a cultural institution, and especially for a museum, enlarging its publics is a question of responsibility and sustainability. Museums should validate the identities of majorities and minorities, as well as their differences, to actively contribute to the education of citizens.
Part of a more extensive accessibility programme initiated by the Galleria Borghese, these activities validate the latter’s social vocation because they are designed for people at risk of exclusion. They promote an accessible and inclusive vision of Culture and, through ART, facilitate experiences of socializing and the development of the personal abilities of people who are fragile in various ways.
Cf. Directive n. 26, issued on 25 July 2018 by the Italian Director-General of Museums: “Guidelines for drawing up the P.E.B.A. (Plan for the Elimination of Architectural Barriers) in museums, monumental complexes, and archaeological areas and parks.”
Tutti insieme nel nome di Scipione Borghese - arte, natura e architettura
accordionThe pilot project Tutti insieme nel nome di Scipione Borghese - arte, natura e architettura (All together in the name of Scipione Borghese - art, nature and architecture), an immersive and multisensory itinerary in the Villa dedicated to the personality of the Cardinal, nephew of PopeACCORDION Paul V, which the museum periodically proposes as an opportunity for different audiences, both disabled and non-disabled, to meet, participate and exchange in order to enhance the common cultural heritage and promote a sensitive view of diversity.
GLIMPSES. Itineraries of mental health in the Galleria Borghese
Project GLIMPSES. Itineraries of mental health in the Galleria Borghese, in collaboration with ASL Roma 1. A group of people who attend the local Mental Health Centers are involved in a permanent training activity on the history of the Borghese collection, with the aim of becoming cultural mediators themselves, on special days in which they will be the protagonists of autobiographical narratives inspired by the works of art in the museum and addressed to the public.
Stories of Cardinal Scipione and Casa Borghese
Stories of Cardinal Scipione and Casa Borghese, launched on the occasion of the Global Day of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021, was created to increase the involvement of the deaf community. A series of guided tours, one per month, outlining different thematic routes each time, dedicated to deaf and hearing visitors together, in two languages, Italian and Italian Sign Language (LIS), co-designed and conducted with the collaboration of Violante Nonno, deaf tour guide. Next events: Saturday, March 19, 9:30 am; Saturday, April 9, 9:30 am; Saturday, May 7, 9:30 am; Saturday, June 11, 9:30 am.
Stories and Shots at the Galleria Borghese. To listen and tell their stories
Intercultural project Stories and Shots at the Galleria Borghese. To listen and tell their stories. Italian and foreign minors, in conditions of social marginality, who attend the day care center Civico Zero in the San Lorenzo district in Rome, participate together in a photographic and writing workshop on the works of the Borghese collection, in collaboration with Civico Zero Onlus, the photographer Mohamed Keita and the photographer and writer Roberto Vignoli.
Beyond the Marble
Beyond the Marble, a narrative podcast dedicated to the Borghese archaeological collection. Ancient marbles inspire stories and stimulate reflections to go beyond the surface of the visible.
Beyond the Marble pays particular attention to the description of the works so that the stories are fully accessible to people with visual disabilities. Lucilla D'Antilio, teacher and blind sculptor, collaborates in the supervision of the texts.
The podcast will activate a series of tactile paths in the museum, supplemented by some specially made copies
Collaboration with NOT EQUAL Association
A group of young adults who recognize themselves in the autistic condition and who are part of the association NOT EQUAL, were winners of the call of Youth Policies of the Region Lazio Vitamina G, for the year 2021 with a project aimed at mapping the territorial contexts of autismfriendly Lazio. In this context they will follow the activities promoted by the Accessibility Office of the Galleria Borghese giving life to an innovative and experimental project, which will show an unprecedented aspect of the Galleria Borghese, that of "laboratory on diversity", a museum that becomes a place of social cohesion, socialization and well-being for all, especially for the most fragile.