In April, Rome begins to welcome more tourists than in winter. This year Easter will be celebrated on 09 April 2023 right in the middle of spring. Easter is one of the festivities that attract visitors from all over the world. If you too want to spend Easter in Rome, you can not miss the best tour of the Vatican to fully experience the magic of this holy anniversary. Here’s everything you need to know to spend the perfect Easter holidays in Rome.
Monuments and museums to visit at Easter
Many major tourist attractions are open during Easter Day. Only the Vatican Museums are closed on both Easter Sunday and Monday.
Good Friday and Saturday are normal days that have the same opening and closing times. Here is a list of monuments and museums you can visit on Easter day:
- Coliseum
- Colle Palatino
- Galleria Borghese
- Capitoline Museums
- Museum of Ancient Sculpture Giovanni Barracco
- Museo delle Mura
- Museum of the Ara Pacis
- Museum of Rome
- Gallery of modern art
The temperatures of Easter in Rome
Generally, in spring the city enjoys a temperate climate, typical of the period. However, the month of April reserves unpleasant surprises characterized by sudden climatic variations that alternate mild and serene days to cold and rainy days.
Fortunately in Rome, you will never get bored and even on a suddenly rainy day, you can spend a fun day with the company.
The Easter lunch in Rome
The Roman Easter lunch is made with seasonal ingredients offering the land.
We go from the fast of Lent to a rich and abundant lunch.
Romans traditionally gather with family or close friends to spend a peaceful and joyful day.
The Roman tradition says that in the Easter lunch there are:
- The cheese pizza, typically Umbrian but adopted for many years in Rome
- The corallina, a coarse-grained salami served already sliced and eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Egg fettuccine seasoned with meat sauce
- Artichokes are a seasonal vegetable that you can prepare in various ways. But at Easter, the protagonist is the Coratella with artichokes, or the entrails of animals cooked with artichokes
- Lamb with baked potatoes
- Vignarola: a spade of vegetables to which is added the pillow
- Finally, as sweet, delicious Easter eggs with chocolate and the traditional colomba.
Activities of the Holy Father Pope Francis for Easter 2023
For all the faithful Easter in Rome is an unmissable event. Here is the list of the Pope’s activities for Easter 2023:
Sunday 02 April: Palm Sunday
The Pope celebrates the "Passion of the Lord": the Commemoration of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and the Holy Mass in St Peter’s Square at 10.00.
Thursday 06 April: Holy Thursday
The Pope celebrates the Holy Chrism Mass held in St Peter’s at 09.30.
Friday 07 April: Via Crucis
The Way of the Cross is the most important and evocative event of the Easter period. On Good Friday Pope Francis crosses the most evocative points of the city, in a path that goes from the Colosseum to the Temple of Venus. The rite for the Passion of the Lord will be held at 21.15.
Saturday 08 April: Easter Vigil
The Pope will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass at 7.30 pm in the Vatican Basilica.
Sunday 09 April: Easter Mass
On Sunday morning, however, the Pope celebrates a solemn Mass in St Peter’s Square at 10.00 am, attended by thousands of faithful from all over the world. Mass is free but, given the large influx of people, it is advisable to book tickets well in advance.
While at 12.00, from the central Loggia, the blessing "Urbi et Orbi" will be held.
