22 Archaeological Sites and Free Museums in Milan

Free Museums in Milan refers to the tradition of opening public museums for free every first Sunday of each month. You can get a chance to see your favourite art like the painting of ‘The Last Supper’ for free. This is also a good chance to see a lot of antiques, sculptures, and ancient items dating back to BC. Sometimes, all sections of the museum are not open on this occasion, but there are still quite a lot of Milan Museums you can see.

The initiative for free museums in Milan and archaeological sites was suggested by Dario Franceschini, Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism to all public museums all over Italy.

Free Museums in Milan and archaeological sites that have accepted this initiative are:

Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum of Milan is located in the ex-convent of the Monastero Maggiore, alongside the ancient church of San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore.

Address: Corso Magenta, 15

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano (Natural History Museum)

The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano was founded in 1838 when naturalist Giuseppe de Cristoforis donated his collections to the city.

Address: Corso Venezia, 55

Civic Aquarium

The Civic Aquarium of Milan is the third oldest aquarium in Europe. Built in 1905 on the occasion of the Milan World’s Fair. It is the only surviving building from the event.

Address: Viale Gadio, 2

Museo del Novecento (20th Century Museum)

The Museo del Novecento is a museum of twentieth-century art housed in the Palazzo dell’Arengario, near Piazza del Duomo in the centre of the city.

Address: Via Guglielmo Marconi, 1

Cenacolo Vinciano (The Last Supper)

The Cenacolo is a parietal painting obtained with a dry mixed technique on plaster by Leonardo da Vinci, dating to 1495-1498, and preserved in the ex-Renaissance refectory of the adjacent convent at the Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie a Milano. Reservation is compulsory.

Address: Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie 2

Galleria d’arte moderna di Milano (Modern Art Gallery of Milano- Villa Reale)

The Milan Modern Art Gallery also called GAM is a 18th-century palace and fine art gallery. It is the most important Lombard collection of nineteenth-century works. It is housed in the Villa Reale, opposite the Giardini Pubblici. The collection consists largely of Italian and European works from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

Address: Via Palestro 16

Gallerie d’Italia

Gallerie d’Italia is the set of exhibition spaces created by Intesa Sanpaolo to make available its artistic and architectural heritage, together with collections from the Cariplo Foundation of Milan, another project partner.

Address: Piazza della Scala 6

Acquario e civica stazione idrobiologica

Civic Aquarium of Milan was established in 1906 as part of the International Exhibition of Milan. It is the only hall in the Parco Sempione not dismantled after the event ended. It is also the third oldest aquarium in Europe.

Address: Viale Gadio 2

Castello Sforzesco

Free entrance is available to the Museums of the Sforza Castle.

Address: Piazzale Castello

Rondanini Pietà Museum

The new museum, created inside the ancient Ospedale Spagnolo (Spanish Hospital) in the Castello Sforzesco, is a fascinating space that has never opened to the public before and is exclusively dedicated to Michelangelo’s last masterpiece.

Free admission every first and third Tuesday of the month from 14:00 and every first Sunday of the month for the whole day.

Address: Castello Sforzesco

Museo Studio Francesco Messina

The Civic Museum-Study Francesco Messina is located inside the deconsecrated church of San Sisto al Carrobbio in the heart of the ancient Roman area of the city of Milan.

Address: Via S. Sisto 4a

Museo archeologico di Milano

The Civic Archaeological Museum of Milan is an archaeological museum located in the former convent of the Major Monastery of San Maurizio, where there are the Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Barbaric and Gandhara sections. The prehistoric and Egyptian section is housed in the Castello Sforzesco.

Address: Corso Magenta 15

Museo civico di storia naturale di Milano

The Civic Museum of Natural History of Milan was founded in 1838 and is one of the most important naturalistic museums in Europe. It is part of the Polo Museums.

Address: Corso Venezia 55

Museo del Risorgimento and Workshop of modern and contemporary history

Founded in 1885, the Milan museum has been housed in the eighteenth-century Palazzo Moriggia since 1951, designed in 1775 by Giuseppe Piermarini, close to the vast complex of Brera.

Address: Via Borgonuovo 23

Museo diocesano di Milano

The Diocesan Museum of Milan was founded in 2001 by the Archdiocese of Milan with the aim of protecting, enhancing, and making known the artistic treasures of the diocese within the spiritual context that inspired them.

Address: Corso di Porta Ticinese 95

Casa Manzoni

Casa Manzoni is an 18th-century palace at the historical centre of Milan and the home of the famous Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni between 1813 and his death in 1873. Manzoni is famous for his historical novel “I Promessi Sposi” (The Betrothed).

Address: Via Gerolamo Morone, 1

Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano

The Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano is a historic house museum situated in Via Jan where 300 works from the Boschi Di Stefano collection may be viewed.

Address: Via Giorgio Jan 15

HangarBicocca

HangarBicocca is a space for contemporary art, located in an area of Milan that used to be dominated by the Pirelli factories. With the completion of the Bicocca Project in 2005 this area has become increasingly urbanised with shops and houses.

Address: via Chiese, 2

Museo Martinitt e Stelline

The Martinitt and Stelline Museum tells the moving story of Milan’s orphans and how they were looked after by the city throughout the past centuries. The use of multimedia allows the visitor to interact and brings the fascinating story to life.

Address: Corso Magenta, 57

Palazzo Morando

The Palazzo Morando is located in the heart of Milan’s stylish fashion district just a stone’s throw from the famous Via Montenapoleone. An elegant 18th-century palazzo beautifully decorated and furnished from that period.

Address: Via Sant’Andrea 6

Pinacoteca di Brera / Brera Botanical Garden

Admission is free every first Sunday of the month, except for exhibitions requiring a separate ticket. On these first Sundays of the month ticket booking and admission to groups accompanied by tourist guides are denied, in order to protect the safety of the public and of works of art.

Address: Via Brera, 28