So, you threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, climbed the Spanish Steps, and also managed to enjoy the amazing Colosseum. What are your future plans?
Why don't you try something unusual that is radically different from everything you saw in the Eternal City? Visit the criminological museum in Rome, located at Via del Confalone 29. The amazing museum was opened in 1931, and today it contains a unique collection of things, one way or another connected with forensic science. Moreover, initially it was available exclusively to representatives of the Italian authorities and police, but in 1994 the federal government decided to open the museum’s doors to the general public.
The very first exhibits from the collection of the criminological museum date back to 1873 and include a lot of interesting things, such as, for example, manuals on methodology, as well as more frightening artifacts (cell samples in which the prisoners were kept). In the Roman Museum of Criminology, you can also find items made by the prisoners themselves during the serving of their sentence.
The museum is divided into three sections. The first is a collection of historical documents, as well as instruments of torture (for example, electric chairs). Among other things, the museum also houses a reproduction of the Iron Maiden and the guillotines that were once used to decapitate criminals. The first section also contains a cell that has the outline of a human body, in which the human skeleton is still enclosed. This exhibit was found on the wall of the Sicilian prison of Milazzo on February 17, 1928. Included in the list of artifacts located here are the red robes of Giovanni Batista Bugatti (1779-1869), also known as Mastro Titta, who executed the death sentences until his retirement at 85 years old.
The second section of the criminological museum is devoted to crimes of the 19th century. Here you will find early forensic techniques, as well as research in the field of criminal anthropology. Present in this section is a stand containing information about the most unusual robberies. In this hall you can also find a gun from which Gaetano Bresci shot King Umberto I. Breschi was the only criminal who tried to kill the monarch and was not executed for it. In 1889, the death penalty was abolished in Italy, so Breschi was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Arms used by Ferrucchio Macola, editor of the Journal of Venice, and poet Carlo Emanuele Felice Cavallotti, are located on one of the stands in the second section of the Roman Criminological Museum. On March 6, 1898, a duel took place, where Cavalotti was killed, accusing Makola of lying.
And finally, the last, third section is devoted to crimes of the 20th century. Within this section, you can find whole exhibitions of evidence on the counts of "organized crime" and "espionage". There is also a whole stand telling about the most mysterious and sensational murders in Italy, from the 1940s to the present day.
Museum working hours:
- Tuesday and Thursday: 9:00 - 13:00, 14:30 - 18:30;
- Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 09:00 - 13:00.
You can find out the actual time of work and the cost of the admission ticket by number +39 06 6889 9442 or on the official website www.museocriminologico.it. As of September 2014, a ticket to the museum costs 2 euros, admission for visitors under 18 and over 65 is free.
