The Basilica Ulpia
The largest basilica ever built in Rome; its re-erected columns give you the scale of the original hall.
Samanthamalgieri — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bgabel — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Maksym Kozlenko — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maksym Kozlenko — CC BY-SA 4.0
The last, largest and most ambitious of the imperial fora: opened in AD 112 to a design by Apollodorus of Damascus, the Syrian engineer who served as Trajan's chief architect. Building it meant cutting away an entire ridge between the Capitoline and the Quirinal — civil engineering on a scale the city had not seen. It held a vast marble plaza, the Basilica Ulpia (the largest basilica in Rome), two libraries — one Greek, one Latin — with Trajan's Column between them, and a temple at the far end. The whole complex was paid for with the spoils of the Dacian wars. What survives is visible free from the Via dei Fori Imperiali railing: the re-erected basilica columns, marble paving, and the column still standing where it was raised. Descending into the excavation itself is done on the adjoining Trajan's Market ticket. Advice: walk the railing from Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum before sunset — you pass four imperial fora in succession without a single ticket.
The largest basilica ever built in Rome; its re-erected columns give you the scale of the original hall.
The Syrian engineer who designed the forum and cut away a whole ridge to make room — among the empire's greatest architects.
Via dei Fori Imperiali, Rome
Imperial ForaFive fora built by successive emperors north of the old Roman Forum once the cit1 minute walk4.6
Trajan's ColumnA thirty-metre marble column raised in AD 113, wrapped in a carved frieze that w2 minutes walk4.9
The Roman Domus of Palazzo ValentiniBeneath Rome's provincial palace, steps from the Vittoriano, sleep two Roman vil3 minutes walk4.6
Altare della PatriaThe vast white marble mass you cannot miss in central Rome: the monument to Vict3 minutes walk4.7
Museo delle CereA wax museum in central Rome at Piazza Venezia, opened in 1958 and among the old3 minutes walk3.5Looking for halal food near Trajan's Forum? There are several options nearby, from Moroccan and Indian kitchens to quick casual spots and places with a view. Confirm the halal status and opening hours before you go — these can change.
Hotel BaroccoA four-star hotel looking directly onto Piazza Barberini and Bernini's Triton Fo12 minutes walk · $$$$4.9The St. Regis RomeRome's oldest grand hotel and its most historic: opened in January 1894 as the G15 minutes walk · $$$$4.8The Roman Forum is the old centre that grew over centuries; Trajan's Forum is a single fully planned project funded from one war's spoils. One is historical accretion, the other pure design.