The world's smallest cinema, a 63-seat wooden pavilion nestled in the Villa Borghese gardens since 1934. Cinema dei Piccoli began as a children's cinema — and still programmes children's screenings — but its evening and weekend programme has expanded into arthouse territory: Italian independents, classic restorations, and international festival selections screened in a room where the proximity to the screen and to other audience members creates an intimacy that larger venues cannot replicate. The setting is extraordinary: you walk through the park, past pine trees and joggers, and arrive at what looks like an oversized garden shed with a projector inside. It is charming, slightly eccentric, and entirely Roman in its refusal to separate high culture from the pleasures of a public park.
Location
Villa Borghese, Rome
Map
Insider Intel
Check the evening programme for arthouse screenings — the children's programming runs daytime, but evenings and weekends often feature Italian independent films and classic restorations. The setting in Villa Borghese makes this a natural pairing with the Galleria Borghese or a park walk.
Evening screening in summer when you can walk through the park at dusk to reach the cinema. The garden setting is part of the experience — arriving by walking through Villa Borghese rather than down a commercial street changes the relationship to the film.
Located inside Villa Borghese gardens, accessible from multiple park entrances. The cinema holds 63 seats — book or arrive early. Built in 1934, it is recognised as the smallest purpose-built cinema in the world. Screenings are in Italian (some with subtitles for international selections). The park closes at sunset in winter, so check access times for evening screenings. Metro: Flaminio or Spagna, then a park walk.