Trajan’s Market Museum

The very interesting Museum of the Imperial Forums – Trajan’s Markets (Mercati di Traiano Museo dei Fori Imperiali) is topographically and historically connected to the vast urban complex of the Imperial Fora: those of Caesar (46 BC), Augustus (2 BC), the Temple of Peace (75 AD), Nerva (97 AD), and Trajan (113 AD).

Opened in 2007 after restoration, this museum, located within the ancient buildings, displays reconstructions, decorations, and sculptures from the Imperial Forums, including architectural fragments, Latin inscriptions, and statues originating from Trajan’s Forum.

Interior of Trajan’s Markets

Trajan’s Markets

Called Trajan’s Markets from the 1920s onwards, they are actually a complex of buildings that had multifunctional roles in antiquity, combining administrative offices, shops, and warehouses for goods and official documents.
They occupied six levels on the slopes of the Quirinal Hill, arranged to facilitate the movement of goods and information between the lower city and the forum.

Since the imperial period, the buildings have served various purposes, including administrative center, residential palace, military fortress, convent headquarters, and barracks. For instance, in the Middle Ages, some rooms were converted into religious dwellings, while in the 19th century, the area was used as a military guard barracks.

Museum of the Imperial Forums

Visitors to the museum are invited to explore the various aspects of the Imperial Forums sites, including their operational systems, construction techniques, activities, and the people who frequented them. They can see demonstrations of Roman construction methods, market organization, and civic and religious rituals associated with the forums.
In other words, life as it unfolded there since antiquity.

To achieve this goal while maintaining scientific accuracy in the reconstructions, several modern technologies are employed, including graphics and multimedia (interactive projections, digital models, 3D reconstructions).

The museum often hosts temporary exhibitions on Roman archaeology, numismatics, ancient architecture, and recent discoveries related to the Imperial Forums.

Map and address

Virtual Tour

Gallery of the museum and markets of Trajan

Information and visits

Posts about the Trajan’s Forum

• Trajan’s Forum
  Built at the beginning of the 2nd century by Emperor Trajan and the architect Apollodorus of Damascus, the complex completed the sequence of the Imperial Fora and pushed the technical ...
• Trajan’s Market Museum
  The very interesting Museum of the Imperial Forums – Trajan’s Markets (Mercati di Traiano Museo dei Fori Imperiali) is topographically and historically connected to the vast urban complex of the ...