Le Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini

This place has the potential to be really awesome; unfortunately it's just not there yet. It seems like these are REALLY cool ruins that I would love to explore. But that's not what you get. Instead you are herded into dark rooms overlooking lights projected onto strategic areas to highlight what a certain ruin may have looked like. I really do love the idea of experiencing what something this old may have looked like when it was in use. And this tour does a great job of highlighting that while also tying it into the audio tour. The problem is that there are so many people on one tour that you miss most of what they are trying to highlight - either because there is not enough time for everybody to get thru the small door into the next room before the "experience" starts, or because there are so many people that they block your view from most of what is being highlighted. In addition, while I do like the visions of what things may have looked like thousands of years ago, I also would love to see how they look now. And there just is not enough time nor lighting to do that. Things go dark and you're rushed into the next room. The ruins themselves are awesome, as far as I can tell. The included audio guide was great. Seeing multiple rooms of the house and multiple layers of building was cool. I love the mosaic floors - including the video recreations of them. And the movie explaining the depictions sculpted on Trajan's Column was excellent. It helps you appreciate that column even more. The addition of seeing the WWII bunker was interesting. We also took the tour where you get to "see Trajan's Column". Of course I would love to go inside the column but honestly did not expect that. I figured we'd just be able to walk up to it and take pictures from ground level. But you don't do that either. What you do is look through mesh gate (openings about 1 cm x 3 cm) at the bottom half of the column (you're under an overhang so you can't even see the top part of the column). There is no additional fee for this (just reserve the 10a or 5p tour) so I can't complain; just letting people know to set expectations. You can tell there was a lot of time, effort and money put into the projections and recreations of the Domus. And they are great. But to be honest, you could watch that in a video and get the same info. Without being able to see the "actual" ruins, just lit up by normal overhead lighting, and without being able to spend just a few minutes looking at the walls and floors and rooms as they are today you're really deprived of seeing all the great Roman architecture down there. I think this experience could be vastly improved simply by reducing the number of people per tour, and letting the people mingle over each room for a few minutes with the lights on.

Booking required in advance This is very fun for children 6+ even, it shows an ancient Roman house using lights and projections to tell the story of what archaeologists have found and what they imagine. It is 1 hour long and requires standing the whole time, also a bit dark and with steps so bear in mind for mobility reasons. I liked it because it helps you visualise the originals from the ruins and even has the longest ever found intact Roman stairs (longer than Pompeii!).

One of the best sights, I have ever seen in the world. With light and virtuell reality the whole palace came to life! See mosaics and murals as they were in Roman times! Hear everything about the Column of Traian, walk over glassfloors with beautiful ruins below you! See reconstructions come to live with light and projections! It's absolutely faboulous! Don't miss this. But buy tickets in advance. 1,5 hours duration for the tour! Audioguide included. Simply great!

Well worth it! Our daughter was in Rome for semester as was introduced to Palazzo Valentini via a class project. When we came to visit this was an early event as an introduction to what live was like in the 3rd Century in Rome. The augmented imagery and the tiny tour groups made this a great experience. Go for it.

If you are someone who loves ancient history and architecture. Love to hear about it and get to know the stories behind what they build and how they build it then you can visit Le Domus. How Romans built, how they used to have leisure time, what was the idea behind these structures that were created is fascinating. I loved it!

Great use of multimedia. Tastefully executed retelling of "normal" life, with surprises in every room. Highly recommend.

Great multi-media audio tour with audiguide in multiple languages. Book online in advance, as visiting is only permitted at designated times in small groups, and it does fill up. This is an underground only tour. A lot of photos posted here don't correspond to the actual site.

Fabulous tour. Absolutely worth your time. You feel like you have stepped back into the 4th century. Highly recommend this tour when you visit Rome.