Markets of Trajan - museum of imperial forum
( Mercati di
Traiano - Museo dei Fori Imperiali )
The
imposing structures of the Markets of Trajan are
currently the object of an important project which
aims to consolidate and restore them in order to
house the Museum of the Imperial Forums.
The vast
archaeological area has had a very complex and
varied history, which has been reconstructed thanks
to the various excavation campaigns which have taken
place since the 1990S and which are now nearing
completion.
The large number of sizeable findings
deserve an appropriate exhibition space, and the
museum has been planned as the combination into a
single itinerary of the ancient remains, which are
visible in the open air in the archaeological areas,
and the fragments of their architectural and
sculptural decoration, which will be exhibited in
the spaces of the Markets of Trajan.
The exhibition
of the materials will be divided into five sections,
one for each of the five forum areas (Forum of
Caesar, Forum of Augustus, Temple of Peace,
Forum of Nerva and Forum of Trajan) located at the various
levels of the complex.
The new museum is due to open
in the summer of 2007, and the current itinerary
covers the archaeological areas of the Forum and
Markets of Trajan.
The
Forum of Trajan, inaugurated between 112 and 113 AD,
is chronologically the last of the Imperial Forum,
and the most complex in design.
The square was
flanked by colonnades on the sides, and with a
statue of the emperor on horseback in the middle.
At
the back it was sealed off by the Basilica Ulpia.
Trajan's Column stood in a narrow courtyard behind
the basilica, with libraries on either side which
had colonnades on their fronts.
The
Markets of Trajan are a series of complex structures
on several levels which must have constituted an
urban quarter in themselves.
Attributed to
Apollodorus of Damascus, the complex is crossed by
a flagstone road which in late antiquity acquired
the name of the Via Biberatica.
The buildings are
located on either side of this road, with cleverly
laid out rooms in brick with various types of
vaulting.
The spaces were used mainly as an official
reception centre by the administration.
The main
hall is of double height, and is vaulted with six
cross-braces.
The sensation is one of air and light,
as it must have been in the halls of the basilicas.
The idea, similar to that of
the Eastern bazaar, is
comparable to the modern-day shopping centre.
On the
ground floor there were rows of six shops on each
side, and on the floor above these were fronted by a
corridor.
The south side of the hall leads to a
series of spaces on two levels which, given their
set-back position, must have served a different
function within the complex: perhaps the management
offices for the entire structure.
For
Tours information
– private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting in
line - VIP services
www.tourinrome.com
www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com
www.vaticanmuseumticket.com
