THE EXHIBITION WILL OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT 3.00 PM ON 12 JUNE 2026

The Ministry of Culture announces the opening of the exhibition “Troy and Rome. Myths, legends and stories of the ancient Mediterranean”, scheduled to run from 12 June to 18 October 2026 at the Parco archeologico del Colosseo.
The initiative forms part of the bilateral agreement signed in April 2025 in Rome between the Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, and the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, aimed at strengthening cultural cooperation between the two countries.
This agreement was followed, in December 2025, by the signing of a specific technical agreement on the exhibition at the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Turkish Ministry, headed by Birol İnceciköz, by Alfonsina Russo, Head of the Department for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage, and Simone Quilici, Director of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo.

Promoted as part of the action plan of the Mattei Plan for Africa and the Mediterranean, the exhibition represents an important cultural diplomacy initiative aimed at consolidating relations between Italy and Turkey, promoting historical and archaeological heritage as a tool for dialogue, sustainable development and socio-economic growth. The initiative also constitutes one of the largest exhibitions ever dedicated to Troy, capable of bringing the subject back to the centre of the scientific and cultural debate on the historical complexity of a site long identified almost exclusively with myth, and to highlight its connection with Rome.
The exhibition is curated by Alfonsina Russo, Roberta Alteri, Alessio De Cristofaro, Bülent Gönültaş, Mehtap Ateş, Deniz Doğu Yöndem and Rüstem Aslan.

THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition presents over 300 artefacts, drawn from some of Italy’s leading museums and from Troy, many of which are on display in Italy for the first time. Thanks to the central role played by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, there are in fact over 220 works on loan from 19 Turkish museums, 50 of which have never before been seen by the Italian public. The exhibition itinerary, introduced by a monumental replica of the Trojan Horse, brings together key archaeological artefacts essential to understanding the historical and mythical heritage of Ilion with materials documenting the spread and reinterpretation of the myth of Aeneas up to the founding of Rome.
The project, developed by the Department for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage, also includes research, dissemination and promotion activities, with the aim of strengthening scientific collaboration between Italy and Turkey, promoting international awareness of their respective cultural heritages, and fostering development models based on sustainable, high-quality tourism. The exhibition aims to offer the general public a coherent and scientifically up-to-date account of the cultural and historical events of Troy and Rome, ideally weaving together the threads of myth, legend and historical reality into a unified narrative spanning some three millennia of Anatolian and Italic civilisation. The exhibition follows a dual track, literary and archaeological, offering a comprehensive interpretation and a critical and comparative analysis of the sources currently available.

“With this cultural diplomacy initiative,” says the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, “we are bringing the narrative power of a founding myth to the international stage, restoring the tangible reality of the archaeological evidence of an ancient and formative civilisation. An exhibition that gives the epic a tangible dimension, capable of intertwining the mythological narrative with the place that served as its cradle and inspiration.”

“We are bringing the epic story of Troy to the Colosseum, one of the most important hubs of global tourism, with an exhibition that combines scientific rigour, conservation and narrative skill,” says Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. “This project makes a heritage of universal value accessible to a global audience and represents a significant step in international cultural cooperation”.

THE SECTIONS OF THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition opens with a large section devoted to the historical, archaeological and topographical reconstruction of the site of Troy, featuring a significant collection of artefacts from Turkish museums. This section also offers a unique insight into the Hittite world and the diverse cultural landscapes of Anatolia during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC.
The second section is dedicated to the Trojan War, told from the Trojans’ perspective, with particular attention to the key figures and major events of the conflict. Ample space is devoted to the figure of Homer and the theme of the epic tradition, analysed in its philological, historical and anthropological dimensions. The section concludes with the fall of the city (Ilioupersis) and the beginning of the diaspora, with Aeneas as its central figure.
The third section explores Aeneas’s journey, reconstructed on the basis of literary traditions – from Stesichorus to Virgil – and archaeological evidence. Particular emphasis is placed on Italian contexts, highlighting sites in southern Italy, Sicily and Latium linked to the Trojan hero’s passage. This section also offers a reconstructive overview of Latium between the 12th and 9th centuries BC, providing interpretative tools for a historical contextualisation of the myth.
The fourth section is devoted to the myth of Romulus and the founding of Rome, through an analysis of the main traditions and the presentation of artefacts and visual evidence of great significance. It reconstructs a picture of archaic Rome and explores in depth the process by which the Romans developed their Trojan origins, a central element in the construction of the city’s political and ideological identity. The section concludes with a focus on the Augustan age, Virgil and the canonisation of the Aeneid saga.
Through the stories of emblematic figures such as Paris, Helen, Priam, Hecuba, Cassandra, Hector, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Achilles, Patroclus, Aeneas, Lavinia, Ascanius and Romulus, the exhibition offers a critical yet accessible journey through the shared memory of the Mediterranean, highlighting the enduring relevance of myths and stories that continue to form a bridge between past and present.