Fancy visiting the Colosseum after sunset? This August, some of Italy's most famous monuments will stay open later as Rome and Milan test extended opening hours during one of the busiest periods of the tourist season.
The month-long pilot, launched by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and the City of Milan, aims to make visits more comfortable during the summer heat while helping to spread crowds more evenly throughout the day.
For now, the project covers three landmarks:Rome's Colosseum and Pantheon, alongside Milan's Castello Sforzesco.
Visitors will be able to explore the Colosseumon Friday and Saturday evenings from 19:45 to 23:30, while the Pantheonwill remain open from 19:00 to 23:00 every day except Thursday. In Milan, Castello Sforzesco will extend its daily opening hours until 19:30, two hours later than usual.
Beyond offering extra time to explore, the trial is intended to improve the overall visitor experience by encouraging evening visits, when temperatures are cooler and the sites are generally less crowded. Officials will also use the pilot to assess whether later opening hours could become a longer-term tool for managing tourism at Italy's busiest heritage sites.
For Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, the initiative is about more than extending visiting hours. He said the evening openings offer a different way to experience two of Italy's most recognisable monuments while making them more accessible to the public.
The project also reflects the growing importance of cultural tourism in Italy.
According to Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi, culture has become the country's main reason for travel, overtaking more traditional motivations over the past decade.
"According to ISNART (the National Institute for Tourism Research), culture has become the leading reason for travelling to Italy since 2026, rising from seventh to first place in just ten years. That is why we are giving the highest priority to cultural tourism and exploring the growth potential of a sector that already contributes €58 billion in visitor spending to the national economy."
In Milan, the extended opening hours build on a broader rise in museum attendance. Castello Sforzesco welcomed around half a million visitors over the past year, while annual visits across the city's civic museums have increased from 1.3 million in 2019 to 1.7 million.
Throughout August, visitors will also be able to take advantage of reduced-price tickets to the Museum of Ancient Art, Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà and the exhibition Passione e Disegno, which brings together works spanning from Leonardo da Vinci to Keith Haring.
If the August trial proves successful, the model could be extended to other major heritage sites across Italy, offering a new approach to balancing visitor demand with access to the country's cultural treasures.