From April to June there are many feast days in Italy, and particularly in Rome. During these days schools, offices, banks, shops, and some restaurants are closed. Some museums and archeological sites are closed too. If you are in Rome in this period, check in advance if the particular touristic site you want to visit is open!
CHRISTMAS OF ROME: APRIL 21ST
April 21st is the annual birthday celebration of the Eternal City, based on the legendary foundation of Rome by Romulus in 753 BC. Events will last from the beginning of April, until Sunday 22nd. Celebrations include gladiator fights, rituals and costume parades.
Here you can find the program.
On April 21st all city’s Museums and sites are regularly open.
LIBERATION DAY: APRIL 25TH
The Liberation day is a National holyday and commemorates the end of World War II. During the morning the President of the Italian Republic leads the Ceremony for the Unknown Soldier at the Altar of the Fatherland. Cycling events and processions take place also in the morning. Among the others the ANPI Procession (Italian Partisans National Association), and the cyclist race Gran Premio della Liberazione.
On April 25th all Civic Museums and Statal Museums are open, including the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. Vatican Museums are open too.
Offices, banks and most shops are closed. If you want to reserve a restaurant, do it well in advance as many are closed and the others should run out of space quickly.
WORKER FEAST: MAY 1ST
This National public holiday celebrates workers’ achievements in their struggle for their rights. Concerts, parades, processions and country festivals take place all over Italy.
Very popular is Rome’s “Concertone” (Big concert), in Piazza San Giovanni.
Many Statal Museums, Civic Museums (Capitoline Museums, MACRO, Modern Art Gallery, and others) and Vatican Museums are closed. Also shops and most restaurants are closed.
Usually on May 1st some Statal museums and archeological sites are open, like the Colosseum, the Borghese Gallery, the archeological site of Ostia Antica, the National Roman Museum. The list of these sites is in constant updating: check the Cultural Heritage site for further information.
Other sites that are open in Rome on May 1st: San Callisto’s catacombs, Saint Peter’s and the other Basilicas, like all churches.
FEAST OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC: June 2nd
This is the Italian National Day and is a National public holyday. The day commemorates the institutional referendum held by universal suffrage in 1946, after WWII, in which the Italian people decided the form of government, Republic against Monarchy. Military parades with the President of the Italian Republic, and demonstration of the Frecce Tricolori, the acrobatic team of the Italian Air Force, take place in the Capital city, starting from the Altar of the Fatherland.
It is a National holyday, so shops and offices are closed. Museums and archeological sites are open, including Colosseum and Vatican Museums.
SAINTS PETER AND PAUL: JUNE 29TH
This is a liturgical feast in honor of the Patron Saints of the Eternal city, the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Pope Francis presides over a Solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at 9.30 am.
Civic museums and Vatican Museums are closed for the solemnity. Statal Museums and Archeological sites (as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Castel Sant’Angelo, Galleria Borghese) are regularly open.
