Italian State Museums Attract Record 58 Million Visitors in 2023
Rome, 4 Jul (ONA) --- Italy saw a record number of visitors to its state-run museums in 2023, the Ministry of Culture said in Rome, as tourists flocked to the Mediterranean country's impressive array of monuments and archaeological sites.
Just under 58 million visits to Italian state-run museums were tallied, topping the previous record of 55 million from 2018 before the coronavirus pandemic. The figure was also a significant increase on 2022's 46 million.
The single most visited attraction was the Colosseum in the capital Rome with 12 million visitors, bringing in an estimated €80 million ($86.4 million). Next on the list were the Pantheon in Rome with 9 million visitors and the Uffizi gallery in the central city of Florence, which attracted 2.7 million guests.
The archaeological site of Pompeii, which was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius near Naples in Roman times, the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence and the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome rounded out the list.
Italy has more than 400 state-run museums with a total income in 2023 of €314 million, a rise of 34% over the previous year.
The Vatican Museums, which attract more than 6 million visitors per year to notable sites such as the Sistine Chapel, are not included in the figures as they are located in the Vatican City.
--- Ends/Khalid