A museum inside a monumental gate

The Museum of the Walls (Museo delle Mura) is one of Rome's most original: not a separate building, but rooms built into Porta San Sebastiano (St Sebastian Gate), the great gate of the Aurelian Walls. Visiting it means exploring the inside of an ancient fortress and looking out over Rome from an unusual angle. Here's what not to miss.

Porta San Sebastiano

Start with the gate itself: the largest and best-preserved in the Aurelian Walls, with its travertine façade, its archway, and the two mighty semicircular towers that flank it. The view is striking, and it instantly conveys the defensive power of the wall circuit.

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The exhibition rooms

Inside the towers and the gate's chambers, the museum's rooms tell the story of the Aurelian Walls through panels, models, and images: how they were built, the techniques used, the gates, and centuries of restoration. It's an engaging, instructive visit that helps you grasp the vast defensive work that once ringed the city. For the full story, see the history of the Aurelian Walls.

The wall-walk

The most thrilling moment is the climb up to the wall-walk: a stretch of the walls you can cross high above the ground, where sentries once kept watch. Up here you walk inside the defensive structure itself and look out over the city and the start of the Appian Way. It's a one-of-a-kind experience, described in our guide to the wall-walk at Porta San Sebastiano.

The view over the Appian Way

From the windows and the wall-walk you'll enjoy a fine view over the start of the Appian Way (Via Appia Antica) and the countryside that surrounds it. It's the perfect spot to picture the gate in its original role: the last passage before leaving Rome along the "queen of roads."

How to plan your visit

  1. Take in the façade and towers of Porta San Sebastiano
  2. Explore the exhibition rooms on the walls
  3. Climb up to the wall-walk
  4. Look out over the view of the Appian Way
  5. Continue toward the Appian Way

Frequently asked questions

What can you see at the Museo delle Mura? Porta San Sebastiano with its towers and travertine façade, the rooms on the history of the Aurelian Walls, and the walkable wall-walk with its view over the Appian Way.

Can you go up onto the walls? Yes: from the museum you reach a stretch of the wall-walk high above the ground, where sentries once kept watch.

What do the museum's rooms cover? The history, building techniques, gates, and restorations of the Aurelian Walls, with panels, models, and images.

Is it worth it with kids? Yes: climbing inside a gate-fortress and walking along the walls is an experience that even the youngest visitors love.

How much time do you need? About 45 minutes to an hour for the rooms and the wall-walk.

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Article #661 · Category: Monuments · Updated: May 2026