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Trajan's Market (Rome)

Description

Mercati Traianei, Via IV Novembre
Tel. 06- 679 00 48
Busses: 64, 70, 170
Open: 9am- 5pm Tue- Sun
Closed: Jan 1, May 1, Dec 25

The Trajan's Markets constitute an extensive complex of Roman buildings in the city of Rome, on the slopes of the Quirinal hill. Since 2007 they have housed the "Museum of the Imperial Fora".

The complex, which originally extended beyond the limits of the current archaeological area, in areas now occupied by modern palaces, was mainly intended as the seat of administrative activities connected to the Imperial Forums, and only to a limited extent to commercial activities, which perhaps they took place in the open spaces on the sides of the internal streets.

The complex was built at the same time as the Forum of Trajan, at the beginning of the second century, to occupy and support the cut of the slopes of the Quirinal hill, and is separated from the Forum by a paved road. It takes up the semicircular shape of the exedra of the Trajan forum and is divided into six levels.

The dates of the brick stamps seem to indicate that the construction mostly dates back to the reign of Trajan and perhaps it can be attributed to his architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, although it is possible that the project was already conceived under Domitian, to whose time it could be attributed at least the beginning of the excavation works.

History

Construction and Historical Context (c. 100–115 AD)
Emperor Trajan (r. 98–117 AD), one of Rome's most celebrated rulers ("Optimus Princeps"), commissioned the complex. Trajan expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent. The market was built as part of his grand urban renewal project in the center of Rome, which also included the massive Forum of Trajan, Trajan's Column, and the Basilica Ulpia.

Architect: Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajan's favored engineer and architect (who also designed the Forum and likely the Danube bridges). He was later executed under Hadrian, reportedly for criticizing the emperor's architectural tastes.
Dates: Traditionally 100–110 AD, inaugurated around 112–113 AD alongside the Forum. Brick stamps suggest some preparatory work may have begun under Domitian (81–96 AD), with Trajan completing and expanding it.
Engineering Feat: Builders excavated a large portion of the Quirinal Hill to create a multi-level terraced structure. This solved urban space constraints in the crowded city center while integrating the complex with Trajan's Forum below.

The complex used advanced Roman techniques: opus latericium (brick-faced concrete), groin vaults, and concrete barrel vaults that allowed for large, open interior spaces with excellent structural integrity.

Architecture and Layout
Trajan's Market was a sophisticated, multi-functional complex rising up to six levels (about 30 meters high) in a semi-circular and terraced form hugging the hillside. It contained over 150 rooms (shops, offices, halls, and possibly apartments).
Key features include:
Semicircular Facade: A monumental curved front with two stories of arched openings (tabernae) overlooking the Forum of Trajan.
Great Hall (Aula Grande): The centerpiece—a vast, two-story hall with a groin-vaulted ceiling, clerestory lighting, and side rooms. Likely an administrative hub.
Upper and Lower Levels: Lower levels for commercial activity; upper levels for offices, archives, and possibly a library. Delicate marble floors and traces of decoration survive.
Streets and Access: Internal streets and staircases connected levels, showing sophisticated urban planning.
Materials: Exposed brickwork (unusual, as it was often marble-veneered), concrete, and stone.

Modern Interpretation: Long called the "world's oldest shopping mall," scholars now view it primarily as an administrative and governmental complex. It likely housed offices for imperial bureaucracy, legal proceedings (courthouses), public records/archives, and some retail (spices, oils, wines, imported goods). It may have included temples or other public functions.

Use in Antiquity
During the height of the Empire, it served the needs of a booming Rome: managing supplies, taxation, legal affairs, and commerce linked to the Forum. It exemplified Roman efficiency and monumental propaganda—showcasing imperial power and public benefaction.

Medieval to Modern History
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the complex endured:
Middle Ages: Adapted for defense. The Torre delle Milizie (Tower of the Militia), a prominent brick tower, was added around 1300 by the Conti family as part of fortifications. Aristocratic families used parts as a castle. Additional floors were built.
16th Century: Converted into the Convent of Santa Caterina da Siena (1574).
19th–20th Centuries: In 1885, the state acquired the site. Excavations intensified under the Italian government, with major work in the 1920s–1930s during Mussolini's era (part of broader efforts to uncover and showcase ancient Rome along the Via dei Fori Imperiali). A 16th-century convent and barracks were demolished to reveal the ruins.
Earthquakes and Decay: Damaged by events like the 1349 earthquake, but the robust concrete construction preserved much of it.

Today: Museum of the Imperial Fora
Since 2007, the site houses the Museo dei Fori Imperiali (Museum of the Imperial Fora). It displays artifacts from all five Imperial Fora (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Peace, Nerva, and Trajan), including statues, reliefs, architectural fragments, and reconstructions. Visitors can explore multiple levels, the Great Hall, and panoramic views.
The ruins remain remarkably intact, offering a rare glimpse into ancient Roman daily administration and urban life. It's located on Via dei Fori Imperiali, near the Colosseum and Roman Forum.

Architecture

The buildings are separated from each other by an ancient path which in the late age took the name of via Biberatica, which runs halfway up the slope of the hill. The lower part, starting from the level of the forum, includes the buildings of the "Grande hemicycle", articulated on three floors and with two "Test rooms" at the ends, and the "Piccolo hemicycle", with rooms again on three floors. Two stairs at the ends of the Great Hemicycle allow you to reach the upper floors and the Via Biberatica.

Upstream from the road, the "central body" rises, with tabernae at the level of the road and three other floors of internal rooms, some of which are particularly well-finished and elaborate.

To the north the via Biberatica folds, flanked upstream by the complex of the "Great hall": the large central space, overlooked by a series of rooms on two levels, constitutes the current entrance to the monument from via Quattro Novembre. From here you can access both via Biberatica and, by means of passages opened in post-ancient times, to the rooms of the central body.

Towards the south, via Biberatica reconnects with the current via della Salita del Grillo, which retraces an ancient route. On the sides of this southern section of the street there is on one side a block with poorly preserved rooms and partly remodeled in later periods; on the opposite side there is the upper floor of a further block that divides it from another ancient path, coming directly from the floor of the forum and which is reconnected by stairs with the Via della Salita del Grillo.

From the central section of via Biberatica, a staircase allows access to the recently restored "via della Torre" and the "Giardino delle Milizie", behind the central body, with other Roman structures on which the Torre delle Milizie was built. 13th century.

Construction details

The "Mercati di Traiano" constitute an articulated architectural complex which, using the ductile construction technique of opus latericium (Roman concrete covered with a brick facing), exploits all the available spaces, obtained by cutting the slopes of the hill, inserting rooms of it varies in shape at the different levels of the monument. This articulation makes it possible to pass, with ample breath, from the curvilinear arrangement of the exedra behind the porticoes of the Forum of Trajan, to the rectilinear arrangement of the surrounding urban fabric.

There are numerous internal connections between the various levels (stairs, creases, etc.), giving a particularly organic and coordinated arrangement to a complex built in such complex soil conditions.

The brick finish is also remarkably treated in a decorative sense: in particular on the facade of the "Great hemicycle" an order of pilasters frames the windows on the second floor, surmounted by alternately triangular pediments, or arched and flanked by two triangular half gables ("broken tympanum "). This decorative party, always in sight and designed by numerous Renaissance artists, is made with specially shaped bricks (which are also found in the string courses in other parts of the complex which are particularly well-finished). Earlier traces of it can be found in Hellenistic architecture (Palazzo delle Colonne di Tolemaide in Cyrenaica) and in some second style paintings.

The open spaces on the external or internal paths had a "modular" structure: covered with barrel vaults, they were equipped with a large door with threshold, architrave and jambs in travertine, surmounted by a small square window that could give light to a mezzanine wooden interior. This is the typical form of commercial environments (tabernae), normally present on the ground floor of Roman insulae: it is these environments that at the time of the unveiling suggested a commercial function for the complex and led to the modern name of "Markets" being given to it. Trajan.

Throughout the complex, the rooms were mainly covered by masonry vaults, from the simpler shapes of the barrel vaults, to the semi-domes that cover the larger rooms, to the complex roofing system of the "Great Hall", with six cross vaults supported on enlarged pillars with travertine shelves and flanked on the upper floor by rooms that contained the lateral thrusts, connected to the structure of the vault by arches that allowed passage into the corridor in front.

The pavements widely use, especially in the uncovered parts, the opus spicatum (cutting bricks arranged in a herringbone pattern), to which a second floor layer in black monochrome mosaic of small flint tiles was often superimposed: the overlapping of two layers contributed to ensure the waterproofing of the rooms below.

Functions

The commercial function, previously attributed to the complex, had been correlated with Trajan's concerns about the precarious food situation of the city: the so-called Trajan's Markets had been interpreted as the final point of a gigantic supply system of the capital, which was also ensured with the construction of the port of Trajan in Fiumicino.

The presence of numerous rooms in the form of tabernae, in particular along the external paths, however, is not necessarily an indication of a commercial function of the complex: even the paved streets that make up the external paths are in fact accessible mainly by stairs that overcome the differences in height, and therefore they were not passable by the wagons necessary for the transport of goods.

Rather, the monument was supposed to constitute a sort of "multifunctional center", where public activities, above all of an administrative nature, took place. The distribution of the rooms, their connections and the articulation of the internal paths had to depend on the different functions of the rooms, such as offices or archives, in close connection with the forensic complex.

The procurator Fori Divi Traiani, mentioned in an inscription recently found, and probably in charge of the administration and management of the monumental complex, must have been located in the rooms of the "central body".

Trajan's Markets - Museum of the Imperial Fora

Trajan's Markets Museo dei Fori Imperiali is part of the system of Musei in Comune, the civic museums of Rome Capital.

Inaugurated in autumn 2007, it aims to illustrate the ancient architecture of the Imperial Forums and their architectural and sculptural decoration. The recompositions of some scores of ancient buildings are presented, made with original fragments, casts and modular stone additions, according to the museographic choice of reversibility, which aim to restore the perception of their original three-dimensionality to the visitor and to make them appreciate the richness figurative programs, tools of imperial propaganda.

The exhibition itinerary begins in the "Great Hall" with the introduction to the area of ​​the Imperial Forums, each of which is represented by a particularly significant piece. On the upper level of the "Great Hall" are the sections of the museum dedicated to the Forum of Caesar and the temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus ("Memory of the ancient"). On the same floor, the museum continues in the "central body" with the section dedicated to the Forum of Augustus, also illustrating its function as a "model" for the forums of the Roman provincial capitals.

The rooms in the upper part of the Trajan's Markets, which house the museum, underwent major structural and conservative restorations in the years 2005-2007. The museum will be completed with the section on the Trajan's Forum, which will be housed in the rooms of the "Testata classrooms", in direct contact with the ancient remains, after the necessary restorations.

The museum uses a mixed communication system, with traditional and video panels that use multimedia technologies, with the aim of re-proposing the connection between the materials on display, the ancient appearance of the buildings to which they belonged and the remains of them preserved in the archaeological areas.

Visiting tips

Trajan's Market (Mercati di Traiano) in Rome is one of the city's most fascinating and underrated ancient sites. Often called the world's oldest "shopping mall," it is actually a remarkable multi-level complex built around 100–110 AD under Emperor Trajan (likely designed by Apollodorus of Damascus). It served as an administrative, commercial, and possibly judicial hub connected to Trajan's Forum.
Today, it houses the Museum of the Imperial Fora (Museo dei Fori Imperiali), featuring artifacts, sculptures, models, and reconstructions from the Imperial Fora. The site offers an excellent preserved example of Roman engineering, with shops, offices, hallways, and a striking semicircular facade.

Why Visit?
It provides insight into daily Roman life and imperial urban planning beyond the more famous Forum and Colosseum.
The structure has multiple levels (up to six in parts), with over 150 rooms, offering a sense of ancient "high-rise" architecture.
Excellent views over Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Column, and surrounding areas.
Less crowded than major sites, making it ideal for a more contemplative visit.

Practical Visiting Information (as of 2026)
Opening Hours: Daily 9:30 AM – 7:30 PM (last admission 1 hour before closing). Closed May 1 and December 25. Shorter hours on Dec 24/31 (until ~2 PM).
Tickets: Around €15 for adults (full price varies slightly with options like video guides or combos). Reduced rates for children, EU youth 18-25, etc. Children under 6 often free. MIC card or Roma Pass may offer benefits.
Pre-booking: Not usually necessary—lines are minimal or nonexistent compared to the Colosseum or Pantheon. Buy on-site or online for convenience (timed entry). Avoid inflated third-party prices.
Duration: 45–90 minutes (longer with audio/video guide). Allow time to wander the levels slowly.

How to Get There
Location: Via IV Novembre 94 (near Piazza Venezia and Via dei Fori Imperiali). Entrance is on the upper level, not the visible street-level facade.
From Colosseum (recommended combo): ~10–15 minute walk along Via dei Fori Imperiali. Great views en route.
Metro: Colosseo station (Line B), then walk.
Bus: Stops near Piazza Venezia or Via Nazionale.
Walking: Easy from Termini, Monti neighborhood, or Capitoline area. Look for the Torre delle Milizie (tower) as a landmark.
Tip: Approach via the Monti district for a pleasant walk and to avoid the busiest road sections.

In-Depth Visiting Tips
Best Time to Visit:
Early morning (opens at 9:30) for soft light, fewer people, and cooler temperatures.
Late afternoon for golden hour photography and quieter vibes.
Avoid midday in summer due to heat (the site has some shade but involves outdoor sections and stairs).

What to Bring/Wear:
Comfortable, closed-toe shoes with good grip—ancient stones can be uneven and slippery.
Water, hat, and sunscreen (limited shade in parts).
Phone/camera for photos; the red brickwork contrasts beautifully with the sky and ruins.

Enhance Your Experience:
Rent an audio or video guide (extra ~€5–6). They provide excellent context on the Imperial Fora, history, and exhibits—highly recommended for first-timers.
Look for temporary exhibitions, which often complement the permanent collection.
Explore all levels: the Great Hemicycle, upper terraces with forum views, and indoor museum halls with statues, friezes, and multimedia displays.

inexhibit.comromeactually.com
Photography & Views:
Iconic shots of the curved facade and Trajan's Column from the road below (free to view externally).
Inside: Upper levels offer panoramas over the forums and city. Evening lighting can be magical.

Accessibility:
Partially accessible with ramps, elevators in some areas, and services for visitors with disabilities (tactile tours available). Check the official site in advance.

Combine with Nearby Attractions:
Trajan's Forum & Column (visible from the site).
Roman Forum/Palatine (separate ticket, but excellent pairing).
Capitoline Museums or Vittoriano Monument.
Monti neighborhood for lunch/coffee afterward (charming streets with restaurants).

Other Tips:
No food inside—eat before or after.
The site is family-friendly but involves stairs; some areas may challenge those with mobility issues.
It pairs well with a guided tour if you're deeply into Roman history.
Check the official website (mercatiditraiano.it) for any updates, notices, or special events.