Fragments of ancient stone walls embedded among modern city buildings mark the site of the Terme Erculee, the largest imperial baths of Roman Mediolanum. Built between the late third and early fourth centuries under Emperor Maximian, who…
Ancient Roman Ruins Walk
This walk pieces together the remnants of Mediolanum, the ancient capital of the Western Roman Empire. From a lonely crypt in a traffic island to hidden circus walls, you'll trace the imperial history lying just beneath modern Milan's streets.
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1. Terme Erculee
2. Cripta di San Giovanni in Conca
The circular brick wall standing alone in the center of Piazza Missori belongs to the ancient church of San Giovanni in Conca. You can recognize these ruins by their jagged, exposed profile, which locals have long nicknamed the decayed…
3. Colonne di San Lorenzo
The sixteen Corinthian columns standing in a row are the most visible remains of the Roman city once known as Mediolanum. These marble shafts, each rising about seven and a half meters high, were salvaged from a second or third-century…
4. Ruins of the Roman Circus, Milan, Italy.
The Roman Circus of Milan was once a sprawling arena, four hundred and seventy meters long, built between the third and fourth centuries under Emperor Maximian. As the capital of the Western Roman Empire, Mediolanum required a venue to…
5. Civic Archaeological Museum
The Civic Archaeological Museum occupies the site of the Monastero Maggiore, a former Benedictine convent founded between the eighth and ninth centuries. A section of the ancient Roman city wall and a polygonal tower stand within the…
6. Palazzo Imperiale romano di Massimiano
The ruins of the Palazzo Imperiale di Massimiano are marked by weathered Roman brick walls and stone foundations sitting within a sunken, open-air green space near Via Brisa. This site is a small fragment of a vast…
7. Palazzo Mezzanotte
Palazzo Mezzanotte is defined by a massive, thirty-six-meter-high facade faced in travertine marble, standing as a prominent fixture in Piazza degli Affari. Completed in nineteen thirty-two after five years of work, the building was…