The Coliseum is Italy's top attraction, according to statistics recently published by the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities. In 2007, Rome's celebrated amphitheatre welcomed over 4,441 visitors and cashed just under 30 million euro. That put it way ahead of the second most popular attraction: the Pompeii archaeological site, which registered just over 2,545 visitors. Third was the Uffizi Galleries of Florence with almost 1,616 visitors. With 1,286,798 visitors each, the Accademia Firenze and Romes Castel Sant'Angelo came in equally at fourth place. Other sights in the top ten were, progressively, the Musei Firenze and the Boboli Gardens, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Villa d'Este, Tivoli, the Egyptian Museum of Turin and the Borghese Gallery, Rome. Further down the list, but worthy of note due to a spectacular rise in visitor figures, were the Modern Art Gallery (+19.72%) and Palazzo Barberini (+19.6%), both in Rome.
In Italy, all state owned monuments and museums are free for EC citizens over 65 and under 18.
