Museums and archaeological areas with the highest attendance in Italy 2019-2021

What are the most visited museums in Italy? While the archaeological park of the Colosseum – also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre – recorded the highest figure prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Uffizi Galleries ranked first in 2020 and 2021. In the latter year, the renowned art gallery in Florence recorded around 1.7 million visitors. Although the Uffizi Galleries' attendance rose from the first year of the health crisis, it remained way below pre-pandemic levels.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on museums in Italy

With the decrease in attendance caused by the emergency closures, the income of State museums and similar institutions in Italy was also significantly lower during the health crisis compared to 2019. Overall, the Colosseum was the tourist attraction with the highest income in Italy in 2021, though revenues dropped from over 57 million euros in 2019 to approximately 17 million euros in 2021.

Museums in the digital era

As museums had to remain closed during the lockdown, they focused on intensifying their digital presence. According to a May 2020 study, the average number of posts published on social media by museums and similar cultural institutions in Italy roughly doubled in March and April 2020 over the previous months. Meanwhile, the share of Italian museums having a social media account increased gradually from 2017 to 2020. As of July 2020, 45 percent of the surveyed institutions claimed to have an Instagram account, while three-quarters of the survey sample had a Facebook profile.