Cinecittà si Mostra

The draw

It is a film studio that still makes films, and you can walk through it. Cinecittà combines the activity of a pole of production and realisation of cinematographic works with that of an exhibition and museum structure — a working lot since 1937, opened up as a museum and in continuous expansion since 2011.

The Roma Antica set is the thing people come for. Monumental scenography built for the HBO television series Rome, standing permanently, visitable with specialised guides.

And the Fellini material is first-hand. "FELLINIANA - Ferretti sogna Fellini" is signed by Dante Ferretti, the Oscar-winning set designer who gave body to Fellini's dreams and visions; the head of Venusia from Il Casanova (1976) stands in the park; and the MIAC holds original sculptures from La dolce vita and from Visconti's Ludwig.

It is built for children, and says so. From October to June the price of the ticket also includes entry to Cinebimbicittà, a workshop space with activities, animated and family visits, readings and special events scheduled every month.

The friction

• The ticket office closes at 16.30, though the site runs to 18.00. Arrive after that and you do not get in.
• Closed on Tuesdays.
• The Roma Antica set is not always available — weekends and set days published on the calendar, with a guide.
• Studio EL is groups only, by compulsory booking.
• No price is published by the city.
• It is out on the via Tuscolana, well beyond the centre.

The tactic

Buy before 16.30 or do not come. This is the one rule that decides the day, and it is published plainly.

Check the calendar before choosing your date. If Roma Antica is the reason you are going, you need a weekend or a published set day, and a specialised guide.

Know which set is free to wander. The "Un medico in famiglia" villas are always freely accessible to anyone visiting the exhibition and museum — no guide, no booking.

Do the MIAC as a separate thing. It is a thematic and immersive route with hundreds of films, interactive installations, video art and multimedia, and it does not reward being hurried after the four exhibition routes.

Book ahead for Studio EL. Ettore Scola and Luciano Ricceri's studio holds hundreds of original sketches, projects, documents and models, and opens only with compulsory booking for groups.

Travel with children October to June. That is when Cinebimbicittà is in the ticket.

Skip it if you:

• Can only arrive late afternoon. The box office shuts at 16.30.
• Are in Rome on a Tuesday. It is closed.
• Specifically want Roma Antica on a weekday. Check the calendar first — it may not be running.

This is a working production lot, not only a museum. Cinecittà combines the activity of a pole of production and realisation of cinematographic works with that of an exhibition and museum structure — parts of it are a workplace with filming in progress, which is why access is routed and timed.

The sets are made of plaster and timber. Roma Antica is scenography, not architecture; it survives because it is maintained, and it is walked with specialised guides for that reason.

The costumes and sculptures are originals. The routes hold original costumes, and the MIAC original sculptures from films such as La dolce vita and Ludwig — film material is fragile in ways stone is not.

Studio EL is somebody's working archive. It preserves hundreds of original sketches, projects, documents and models from the Scola–Ricceri partnership, and opens only with compulsory booking for groups.

Teatro 5 carries a specific history. Scola shot Che strano chiamarsi Federico there for the particular bond between this stage and the great director from Rimini.

Every day except Tuesday — but the ticket office shuts at 16.30

Cinecittà si Mostra opens every day except Tuesday, from 10.00 to 18.00. THE TICKET OFFICE CLOSES AT 16.30 — ninety minutes before the site does. Arriving at 17.00 means not getting in at all.

No price is published

Turismo Roma gives online purchase at ticketone.it/artist/cinecitta-si-mostra, the site cinecitta.com/visita/ and the box-office number 06 72293269, and no amount. What it does publish: from October to June the price of the ticket also includes entry to Cinebimbicittà.

The two sets work differently

• Roma Antica — the HBO Rome scenography — with specialised guides, at weekends and on set days published on the calendar of the website.
• "Un medico in famiglia" — always freely accessible to anyone visiting the exhibition and museum.

Studio EL

The studio of Ettore Scola and Luciano Ricceri can be visited only with compulsory booking for groups.

Where it is

Via Tuscolana 1055, through the historic rationalist entrance.

Ticket & Pass Decision Matrix

Before 16.30, whatever else you do. The site runs to 18.00 but the ticket office closes at 16.30; that hour and a half is the difference between a visit and a wasted journey.

A weekend, if Roma Antica is the point. The HBO Rome set is visitable with specialised guides during weekends and on set days published on the calendar of the website — check before fixing the date.

Not Tuesday. It is the one weekly closure.

October to June with children. That is the window when Cinebimbicittà is included in the ticket, with activities, animated and family visits, readings and special events scheduled every month.

Allow three hours. Four exhibition routes, the MIAC, the park and at least one set is a half-day, not an hour.