# Trajan's Column, Rome

> Trajan's Column is a marble column of AD 113, about 35 metres tall with its pedestal, wrapped in a 190-metre spiral of carved reliefs. Its roughly 2,600 figures show legionaries building bridges and camps and crossing the Danube. It's free to see from the street at any hour; 15 minutes is enough.

Web page: https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/trajans-column

- City: [Rome](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome), Italy
- YesGo score: 60/100 (Yes, go)
- Time on site: 15 min
- Opening hours: Open 24 hours, free, viewed from outside
- With kids: Fine with kids
- Entry: Free, viewed from the street
- Date: AD 113, under Emperor Trajan
- Height: ≈ 30 m shaft, ≈ 35 m with pedestal
- Frieze: ≈ 190 m spiral, 23 turns, ≈ 2,600 figures
- Time needed: 15 minutes
- Location: Trajan's Forum by Piazza Venezia; 5 minutes from the Vittoriano
- Coordinates: 41.89583, 12.48417
- Facts checked: 10.11.2026

## Key facts

- **AD 113** — the column was dedicated to Emperor Trajan (source: English Wikipedia)
- **≈ 30 m** — shaft of 29 Carrara marble drums; about 35 m with pedestal (source: English Wikipedia)
- **≈ 190 m** — length of the spiral frieze, 23 turns (source: English Wikipedia)
- **≈ 2,600** — figures in the reliefs (source: English Wikipedia)
- **185 steps** — an internal spiral staircase — closed to visitors (source: English Wikipedia)
- **1587** — a bronze statue of St Peter was placed on top (source: English Wikipedia)

## Trajan's Column facts

The column was dedicated in **AD 113** in the middle of **Trajan's Forum**, the last and largest of the Imperial Fora, probably designed by **Apollodorus of Damascus**. Its shaft is built from **29 huge drums of Carrara marble**, hollowed out to hold a **spiral staircase** of 185 steps up to a viewing platform.

The inscription on the base says the column marks the height of the hillside dug away to build the forum. After Trajan's death a golden urn with his ashes was placed in the base. A statue of the emperor once stood on top; in **1587** Pope Sixtus V replaced it with a bronze **St Peter**.

## The reliefs

The star is the **spiral frieze**, about **190 metres** long, winding **23 times** up the shaft. It holds some **2,600 figures**, with Trajan himself appearing nearly sixty times, and tells the story of his campaigns in **Dacia** — roughly modern Romania — in the early 2nd century.

Most scenes show army life rather than fighting: legionaries **building bridges, camps and roads**, crossing the Danube, felling trees, loading ships, the emperor addressing troops and offering sacrifices. Historians treat it as the key visual record of Roman soldiers, kit and engineering. The reliefs were originally painted.

## What to look for

- **The start of the frieze** — the Danube river god rises as troops cross a pontoon bridge.
- **Camp building** — soldiers hauling stone and raising walls.
- **Trajan himself** — the figure everyone else turns towards.
- **Victory** — halfway up, writing on a shield between the two halves of the story.
- **The pedestal** — with its inscription and carved weapons.
- **St Peter** — at the very top, holding his keys.

> **How to see the reliefs** From the street you can only make out the lower turns — the rest is too high. Bring binoculars or use your phone's zoom. Full plaster casts you can study up close are in Rome's Museum of Roman Civilisation and the V&A in London.

## Where is Trajan's Column?

It stands at the northern corner of **Trajan's Forum**, at the start of **Via dei Fori Imperiali**, a few minutes from [Piazza Venezia](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/piazza-venezia) and the [Vittoriano](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/vittoriano). Two Baroque domed churches flank it, and the curved façade of [Trajan's Market](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/imperial-fora) rises behind the forum ruins. You view it for free from the railing above the excavations.

## How to get there

1. Walk from Piazza Venezia — 3–5 minutes east.
2. Buses 40, 64, 70 and 87 and tram 8 stop at Piazza Venezia.
3. Metro line B to Cavour or Colosseo, then 10–15 minutes on foot.
4. From the [Colosseum](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/colosseum), 15 minutes along Via dei Fori Imperiali.

## Is Trajan's Column worth seeing?

Yes — it's free, on the way between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, and one of the most famous works of ancient sculpture, the model for the Column of Marcus Aurelius and the Vendôme Column in Paris. Spend fifteen minutes tracing the spiral upwards. It's floodlit at night.

## At the column

Tick off what's done — your ticks are saved in this browser.

- [ ] Bring binoculars or use zoom
- [ ] Find the Danube god at the start
- [ ] Find Victory halfway up
- [ ] Look across at Trajan's Market
- [ ] Walk on to the Colosseum along Via dei Fori Imperiali

## Ancient Rome: compare and choose

Ancient sites in Rome rated by YesGo.

- [Pantheon](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/pantheon) — YesGo score 82/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · ≈ €5
- [Colosseum](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/colosseum) — YesGo score 73/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h · ≈ €18
- [Roman Forum](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/roman-forum) — YesGo score 63/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ €18 with Colosseum
- [Circus Maximus](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/circus-maximus) — YesGo score 63/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free
- [Trajan's Column](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/trajans-column) — YesGo score 60/100 (Yes, go) · 15 min · Free
- [Capitoline Hill](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/capitoline-hill) — YesGo score 58/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free
- [Castel Sant'Angelo](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/castel-sant-angelo) — YesGo score 57/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ €15–20
- [Arch of Constantine](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/arch-of-constantine) — YesGo score 57/100 (Yes, go) · 15 min · Free
- [Palatine Hill](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/palatine-hill) — YesGo score 54/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ €18 with Colosseum
- [Mausoleum of Augustus](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/mausoleum-of-augustus) — YesGo score 53/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · ≈ €5, booking
- [Largo di Torre Argentina](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/largo-di-torre-argentina) — YesGo score 53/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free from street; walkways ≈ €5
- [Pyramid of Cestius](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/pyramid-of-cestius) — YesGo score 52/100 (Yes, go) · 20 min · Free outside
- [Appian Way](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/appian-way) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · Free
- [Domus Aurea](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/domus-aurea) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · ≈ €18, with VR ≈ €26
- [Mouth of Truth](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/bocca-della-verita) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Donation ≈ €2
- [Baths of Caracalla](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/baths-of-caracalla) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · ≈ €8
- [Catacombs of Rome](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/rome-catacombs) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ €10–12 with guide
- [Ara Pacis](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/ara-pacis) — YesGo score 47/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · ≈ €13–15
- [Theatre of Marcellus](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/theatre-of-marcellus) — YesGo score 47/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free
- [Vatican Museums](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/vatican-museums) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ≈ €25
- [Capitoline Museums](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/capitoline-museums) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · ≈ €15–19.50
- [Baths of Diocletian](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/baths-of-diocletian) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Basilica free; museum ≈ €10–12
- [Basilica of San Clemente](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/san-clemente) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Upper free; excavations ≈ €10–12
- [Imperial Fora](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/imperial-fora) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free from the street; museum ≈ €13–15
- [Testaccio](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/testaccio) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Free
- [Palazzo Massimo](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/palazzo-massimo) — YesGo score 34/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · ≈ €10–12 combined ticket
- [Ostia Antica](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/ostia-antica) — YesGo score 31/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ≈ €12–18
- [Hadrian's Villa](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/hadrians-villa) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · ≈ €12–15

## The Imperial Fora on foot

From Piazza Venezia to Trajan's Column and Trajan's Market, then along Via dei Fori Imperiali to the Colosseum.

1. [Piazza Venezia](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/piazza-venezia) — YesGo score 53/100 (Yes, go) · 20 min · Free
2. [Trajan's Column](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/trajans-column) — YesGo score 60/100 (Yes, go) · 15 min · Free
3. [Imperial Fora](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/imperial-fora) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free from the street; museum ≈ €13–15
4. [Colosseum](https://yesgo.io/italy/rome/colosseum) — YesGo score 73/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h · ≈ €18

## Don't mix it up

Trajan's Column isn't the Column of Marcus Aurelius on Piazza Colonna off Via del Corso — that one also has a spiral frieze but is about 80 years younger. The Vendôme Column in Paris imitates Trajan's.

## Tips

- Only the lower turns are visible — bring binoculars.
- Victory halfway up divides the story in two.
- Floodlit after dark.
- It's on the way from Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum.

## Questions

### Where is Trajan's Column?

In Trajan's Forum at the start of Via dei Fori Imperiali, 5 minutes from Piazza Venezia.

### How tall is Trajan's Column?

About 30 m for the shaft, about 35 m with the pedestal.

### What do the reliefs show?

Trajan's Dacian campaigns — marches, camp and bridge building, river crossings — in about 2,600 figures.

### When was Trajan's Column built?

It was dedicated in AD 113.

### Can you go inside Trajan's Column?

No, the internal 185-step staircase is closed to visitors.

### Whose statue is on top?

St Peter's, since 1587; originally a statue of Trajan.

### Does it cost anything to see?

No, it's free to view from the street.

## How we checked

History, dimensions, frieze and statue from English Wikipedia. The column is free and viewed from the street, so no prices or hours appear on this page.

## Sources

- English Wikipedia, Trajan's Column

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