# Museo Omero: free, and made to be touched

> Italy's state tactile museum is free in 2026, opens in the afternoon on weekdays, and asks you to handle the sculpture instead of standing back from it.

URL: https://myitalia.it/attractions/museo-omero-ancona
Last updated: 2026-09-03

The Museo Tattile Statale Omero in Ancona charges nothing for entry in 2026, and it is built to be gone through by hand: the sculpture on show is meant to be touched.

## Free, with one €5 exception

The museum costs nothing in 2026. The Design Collection is the one paid part, at €5, and it is free on the first Sunday of the month.

That pricing is deliberate rather than a promotion. A tactile museum takes longer per visitor and works badly with timed slots, and dropping the ticket removes the queue that would otherwise defeat the format. Prices on this page are in euros.

## Afternoon on weekdays, all day on Sunday

Hours run 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm Tuesday to Saturday and 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sundays and public holidays (15:00 to 18:00 and 10:00 to 18:00 on Italian signs). From April 1 to October 31 the Friday opening moves forward to 2:00 pm.

Three hours on a weekday afternoon is a short window, and it is the single most common way to miss this place. If you are on a ferry schedule, the Sunday timetable is the one that fits.

## What handling actually changes

One instruction governs the whole layout: put your hands on the work. Casts and originals alike are chosen and mounted so a form can be read by the palms, at reachable height and without a rope in front.

For a blind visitor that is access. For a sighted one it is a different sense doing the work, and it tends to catch out people who expect a specialist collection and find a general one: the pieces are the standard canon, met a different way.

## The building is a quarantine station

The museum sits inside the Mole Vanvitelliana, the pentagonal lazaretto designed by Luigi Vanvitelli on an artificial island in the port, first stone July 26, 1733 and finished in 1743. The address is Banchina Giovanni da Chio 28.

Ramps run through every hall and the Comune lists the whole building as accessible to people with disabilities. Details of the venue and its event calendar are at [the Mole Vanvitelliana](/attractions/mole-vanvitelliana-ancona).

## Two monuments above the same water

The Arch of Trajan, dated 100 or 116 AD, is not a city gate: it is an honorary single-arch monument built on the mole itself, dedicated to Trajan together with his wife Plotina and his sister Marciana for enlarging and securing the port.

It is cut from large blocks of Hymettus marble brought from Greece, on a podium of Conero stone, with two Corinthian columns carrying the attic. It was restored in 2000, and its height is not stated in the city's record, so this page does not give one. Imported Attic marble is the detail that shows what rank the emperor gave this harbour.

Up the hill, the cathedral of San Ciriaco stands on the Colle Guasco, the highest point of the old town, on an uncommon Greek cross plan, over the remains of a Hellenistic temple of Aphrodite. The story of the museum itself is at [the museum you touch with your hands](/stories/the-museum-you-touch-with-your-hands), and the city at [Ancona](/towns/ancona).

## FAQ

### How much is the Museo Omero in Ancona?

Nothing for the museum in 2026. The Design Collection is a separate €5 ticket and is free on the first Sunday of the month. Prices on this page are in euros and were checked on September 3, 2026.

### What time does the Museo Omero open?

3 pm to 6 pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 10 am to 6 pm on Sundays and public holidays (15:00 to 18:00 and 10:00 to 18:00 on Italian signs). Between April 1 and October 31 the Friday opening moves earlier, to 2 pm.

### Can sighted visitors go to the Museo Omero?

Yes, and the handling rule applies to everyone. The collection is built so that shape can be read by the palms, which is why the sculptures are mounted at reachable height and without barriers. It is a state museum, not a specialist facility with restricted entry.

### Where is the Museo Omero?

Inside the Mole Vanvitelliana, the pentagonal 18th century quarantine station on an artificial island in the port of Ancona, at Banchina Giovanni da Chio 28. The host building has ramps in every hall and is listed as accessible.

### What else is worth seeing near the Museo Omero?

Two things above the port. The Arch of Trajan, an honorary single-arch monument of 100 or 116 AD built on the mole itself, and the cathedral of San Ciriaco on the Colle Guasco, on a Greek cross plan over a Hellenistic temple of Aphrodite.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad Ancona, dentro la Mole Vanvitelliana, il Museo Tattile Statale Omero espone opere che si toccano con le mani: l'ingresso al museo e' gratuito (2026), la Collezione Design costa 5 euro. | [Museo Tattile Statale Omero](https://www.museoomero.it/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| L'Arco di Traiano di Ancona, del 100 o 116 d.C., non e' una porta urbana ma un arco onorario a fornice unico eretto sul molo, dedicato all'imperatore Traiano insieme alla moglie Plotina e alla sorella Marciana per aver ampliato e messo in sicurezza il porto: e' costruito in grandi blocchi di marmo dell'Imetto, dalla Grecia, su un podio in pietra del Conero. | [Comune di Ancona](https://www.comune.ancona.it/it/point-of-interest/758726?category_id=344166) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| La Mole Vanvitelliana di Ancona e' un lazzaretto pentagonale progettato da Luigi Vanvitelli: la prima pietra fu posata il 26 luglio 1733 e i lavori finirono nel 1743. Si estende per quasi ventimila metri quadrati su un'isola artificiale nell'area portuale, fuori dalle vecchie mura, e oggi ospita iniziative culturali e musicali; e' accessibile alle persone con disabilita' grazie alle rampe presenti in tutte le sale. | [Comune di Ancona](https://www.comune.ancona.it/it/point-of-interest/758716?category_id=344165) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| La cattedrale di San Ciriaco sta in cima al colle Guasco, il punto piu' alto del centro storico di Ancona, ha una rara pianta a croce greca e sorge sui resti di un tempio ellenistico di Afrodite. | [Wikipedia in italiano](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattedrale_di_San_Ciriaco) | medium | 2099-12-31 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/city.ancona.1600.jpg
Author: Terragio67. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancona_-_Monumento_ai_caduti_di_Ancona,_dettagli_-_GT_ver2_-_2025-09-11_21-09-15_001.jpg

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/attrazioni/museo-omero-ancona.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/atracciones/museo-omero-ancona.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/attractions/museo-omero-ancona.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/sehenswuerdigkeiten/museo-omero-ancona.md