Mausoleum of Augustus Museum to open in 2026.

Luxury jeweller Bulgari will finance the construction of the Mausoleum of Augustus Museum with funding of €700,000, Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri said on Tuesday.

The mayor was speaking at the launch of the Bvlgari Foundation whose aim is to "establish new partnerships and strengthen existing ones to create new professional opportunities and specific training projects for new generations in the artisan sector."

The design of the museum layout will be entrusted to the celebrated Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and its opening will be in 2026, together with the Mausoleum which is still undergoing restoration works.

The new museum at the tomb of Rome's first emperor will be housed inside the mausoleum and will contain all the discoveries made in the surrounding archaeological area, including the head of Venus unearthed last year.

The funding of the museum at the Mausoleum of Augustus is Bulgari's latest act of patronage to the city of Rome, following its restoration of the Spanish Steps, the Largo Argentina archaeological site and now the Vittoriano statues.

#MausoleoDiAugusto, sarà la Maison Bulgari a finanziare l'allestimento museale. Affidamento all'archistar #RemKoolhaas: apertura nel 2026, insieme al Mausoleo in fase di restauro.

Per saperne di più https://t.co/F7WKGmp0OO@Bulgariofficial @Sovrintendenza pic.twitter.com/DAedvTBXU5

— Roma (@Roma) March 27, 2024

Separately, Gualtieri said the restyling works in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, the public square surrounding the Mausoleum, will be completed by the end of this year, in time for the Vatican's Jubilee Year 2025.

The mausoleum, which dates to 28 BC, is located alongside Richard Meiers’ Ara Pacis Museum, which contains Augustus’s Altare della Pace to commemorate the peace created by the emperor.

Last year Bulgari inaugurated a luxury five-star hotel facing the Mausoleum of Augustus, after carrying out extensive renovations on a rationalist-style building dating from the fascist era.

The Mausoleum of Augustus opened partially to the public in 2021, after an 80-year closure, following a major restoration funded largely by Italian telecommunications company TIM.