Turin's landmark
At 167 metres, the Mole is Turin's landmark. Inside is the National Cinema Museum (Museo Nazionale del Cinema), and right through the middle a glass lift takes you up to the viewing terrace at 85 metres in 59 seconds.
from€39.00per person
Book museum + lift ticket
The Mole Antonelliana is the building you see in every photo of Turin – and even on the Italian 2-cent coin. Since 2000 it has housed the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, which says it has ranked among Italy's ten most visited museums since it opened.
Your visit has two parts, which you can book separately or together:
The Mole stands in the old town at Via Montebello 20, a few minutes' walk from Piazza Castello. Plan half a day for the museum and the lift together.
The Cinema Museum and the panoramic lift have separate tickets. The combo ticket covers both and is cheaper than two single tickets.
| Ticket | Standard | Reduced |
|---|---|---|
| Cinema Museum (incl. temporary exhibitions) | €18.00 | €16.00 |
| Panoramic lift | €9.00 | €7.00 |
| Combo ticket museum + lift | €23.00 | €20.00 |
| Children up to age 5 | free | free |
Official admission according to museocinema.it, as of October 2026. Reduced prices apply to young people aged 6 to 26 and to holders of the Royal Pass, Abbonamento Musei and Torino + Piemonte Card, among others. People with disabilities and one companion get free entry to the museum and the lift.
It depends on whether you're more interested in film or in the view – and whether you have a Torino Card.
The best choice for most visitors. You see the museum and ride the lift up through the domed hall. The lift is what sets the Mole apart from other museums.
The official combo ticket costs €23.00. With the ticket button above, you book a ticket with museum and panoramic lift, plus an audio guide app with information about the city of Turin in seven languages, including English. Current price: from €39.00. According to the provider, tickets are sent by email the day before.
For the view without the museum. The lift-only ticket costs €9.00 at the standard rate. Availability is tight: the ride is tied to a time slot and must be reserved. Online, the museum releases a small extra allocation 19 hours before each day – worth checking the evening before if everything is sold out.
For film fans short on time or on a rainy day. The museum ticket costs €18.00 at the standard rate and includes the current temporary exhibitions. You can't add the lift on the spot at the museum if all time slots are taken.
Museum free, lift discounted. With the Torino + Piemonte Card, the Cinema Museum is free. For the panoramic lift, you pay the reduced price of €7.00. Turismo Torino strongly recommends that cardholders reserve their visit in advance in the official ticket shop.
For anyone who wants to hear the stories behind the exhibits. The guided tours below include entry and the lift ride. Several languages are available. Check the language when you book: not every tour has English or German dates.
These offers include entry to the Cinema Museum and a ride in the panoramic lift. Prices and reviews are loaded live from the provider.
Entry to the museum and a ticket for the panoramic lift, without a guide. Plus an audio guide app about the city of Turin in seven languages, including English – not an audio guide for the museum itself. There is no meeting point; you go straight to the entrance with your ticket.
from €39.00
Details & booking
Two-hour guided tour of the museum with a lift ride to the terrace, tickets without waiting at the ticket office. Small group of no more than nine participants. Dates are available in German, English, French, Spanish and Italian.
from €99.00
Details & booking
Two-hour tour with a licensed guide, entry and panoramic lift included. Group dates are in Italian; in other languages, the tour can be booked as a private tour. The provider points out that the lift ride may be cancelled in bad weather.
from €125.00
Details & booking
Entry with a two-hour small-group guided tour, including the lift ride to the viewing terrace. The tour is in Italian only. The meeting point is in front of the museum at Via Montebello 20.
from €98.50
Details & bookingCancellation policies differ by offer. According to the providers, the three guided tours can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours in advance, and the ticket with audio guide up to 2 days in advance.
The museum and the panoramic lift have the same opening hours. The closing day is Tuesday – not Monday, as at many other museums.
| Day | Museum and panoramic lift |
|---|---|
| Monday | 9:00–19:00 |
| Tuesday | closed |
| Wednesday to Sunday | 9:00–19:00 |
| Ticket office closes | 1 hour before closing |
| Last lift down from the terrace | 10 minutes before closing |
Special hours according to museocinema.it: the museum is closed on 7 October 2026. On 24 and 31 December it is open until 18:00, on 25 December and 1 January only from 14:00. Normal hours apply on 1 November, 8 December, 26 December and 6 January. The queue outside may be closed before closing time without notice. Current hours: museocinema.it.
The Ascensore panoramico went into service in 1961 for the 100th anniversary of Italian unification and was renewed in 1999. The cabin has glass walls and hangs freely in space: it travels without a shaft straight through the museum's great domed hall. Below you, the Aula del Tempio grows smaller; above you, the dome opens up.
After 59 seconds you reach the “Tempietto”, the viewing terrace at a height of 85 metres. From there you can look out over the whole city:
For photos, the light is often best in the late afternoon; in winter, dusk falls within opening hours.
Inside the Mole, the museum spirals upward. It is based on the collection of Maria Adriana Prolo, who bought her first film print in 1942 for 30 lire. Today the collection comprises around 3.25 million items, including some 2.5 million photographs and 540,000 posters and advertising materials. Part of it is on display.
Until 5 April 2027, the ground floor hosts the exhibition “Gillo Pontecorvo. One battle after another” about the Italian director. You'll find the current programme on museocinema.it. We cover the city's other museums in our overview of museums in Turin.
The Mole has an unusual history. The architect Alessandro Antonelli designed it in 1862 as a synagogue for Turin's Jewish community. Construction began the following year.
The City of Turin later took over the building and completed it in 1889. It reached its current height of 167 metres in 1906. At the time, the Mole was the tallest masonry building in Europe. Over the course of the 20th century, it was reinforced and restored several times.
From 1996 to 1999 the interior was converted for the Cinema Museum, and in July 2000 the Museo Nazionale del Cinema opened in the Mole. Since then the building has been not only a landmark but also one of the most visited museums in the country.
The Mole is one of Turin's most visited sights. Without a reservation, expect queues – or fully booked lift slots.
The museum explicitly recommends buying online. Reservations are mandatory for the lift-only ticket, and on weekends and public holidays the time slots go quickly. Official ticket shop: cinema.museitorino.it.
Time slots are strictly enforced. According to the museum, if you arrive late, entry is no longer guaranteed.
Weekdays are usually quieter than weekends. Keep Tuesday in mind when planning – that's when it's closed.
19 hours before each day, the museum releases an extra allocation of lift tickets online.
With the Torino Card, Royal Pass or Abbonamento Musei, reserve in the ticket shop under the category for cardholders. The card alone doesn't guarantee a spot.
The Torino + Piemonte Card fully covers entry to the Cinema Museum. For the panoramic lift, you pay €7.00 instead of €9.00 with the card. On top of that, you get free entry to places like the Egyptian Museum, the Musei Reali and La Venaria Reale. Reserve your slot at the Mole in advance.
The Royal Pass focuses on the Savoy residences. At the Cinema Museum and the panoramic lift, it only gets you the reduced price, not free entry: €16.00 for the museum, €7.00 for the lift or €20.00 for the combo ticket.
Instead of taking the lift, you can also walk up: on the dome climb (“Salita alla Cupola”), you go from the ground floor up stairs inside the hollow of the dome to the terrace at 85 metres. This way you see Antonelli's construction from the inside. The climb takes around an hour.
Children under 6 can't take part. The museum advises against the climb if you have limited mobility, heart or breathing problems, claustrophobia or a fear of heights. In summer, the climb is suspended because of the heat. Dates and booking: museocinema.it.
The Cinema Museum is well suited to wheelchair users:
People with disabilities and one companion get free entry to the museum and the lift. Pregnant women and families with pushchairs also get priority entry. Details: museocinema.it.
The Cinema Museum costs €18.00 at the standard rate, the panoramic lift €9.00 and the combo ticket for both €23.00. At the reduced rate (including ages 6 to 26), you pay €16.00, €7.00 or €20.00 respectively. Children up to age 5 get in free.
The Mole is 167 metres tall. It reached this height in 1906, when it was the tallest masonry building in Europe. The viewing terrace is at 85 metres.
The lift takes 59 seconds to reach the viewing terrace at 85 metres. With its glass walls, it travels freely through the domed hall of the Cinema Museum.
Yes. The lift-only ticket is tied to a time slot and must be reserved. On weekends and public holidays, slots often sell out quickly. 19 hours before each day, the museum releases an extra allocation online.
Wednesday to Monday from 9:00 to 19:00; closed on Tuesdays. The ticket office closes one hour earlier, and the last lift down from the terrace is ten minutes before closing. The museum is closed on 7 October 2026.
Partly. With the Torino + Piemonte Card, the Cinema Museum is free, and you pay the reduced price of €7.00 for the panoramic lift. Reserving in advance is strongly recommended.
Yes, but only as a discount. With the Royal Pass, you pay €16.00 for the Cinema Museum, €7.00 for the lift and €20.00 for the combo ticket.
About half a day for the museum and the lift together. The guided tours last around two hours, and the dome climb on foot about an hour.
Yes. One of the tours on this page has dates in English (as well as German, French, Spanish and Italian), with entry and the lift ride included. The museum's official guided dome climbs, however, are only in Italian.
Yes, on the dome climb, up stairs inside the dome to the terrace. It costs €12.00 (accompanied) or €15.00 (guided, in Italian), is only allowed from age 6 and is suspended in summer because of the heat.
Yes, all exhibition areas are wheelchair accessible, and there is a separate entrance and free loan wheelchairs. The panoramic lift has room for one wheelchair at a time. People with disabilities and one companion get free entry.
In Italian, “mole” means something like “massive structure”. The name “Antonelliana” refers to the architect Alessandro Antonelli, who originally designed the building as a synagogue.