50 Best Roman ruins to visit

One of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in France, where 20,000 would come to watch gladiators fight to the death. It was inspired by Rome’s Colosseum , and was later converted into a fortress in the Middle Ages. It’s still used for bullfights during Arles’ Easter and September festivals, as well as the bloodless courses camarguaises bullfights, and occasional gladiatorial re-enactments.

One of Croatia’s grandest Roman monuments is in Pula, on the Istrian peninsula south of Trieste, Italy. Very well preserved, it is used as a site for summer concerts and the city’s film festival. Pula also has a Roman triumphal arch, and remains of the Forum that include a surviving temple.

Nimes’ landmark amphitheatre makes an elegant focal point for the city centre. Like many others, it owes its survival to being converted to a fortress in the Middle Ages. ‘Les Arènes’, as the Nimois call it, is now restored, and used for bullfights, courses camarguaises (bloodless bullfights), historical re-enactments and concerts.

This ruined city makes a fascinating day trip inland from Turkey’s west coast resorts. Dedicated to pleasure and under the protection of Aphrodite, goddess of love, it was a garden spot in ancient times, and despite many earthquakes a lot of it survives: temples, civic monuments, a council hall, theatre and stadium.

Built in the height of the empire, under the reign of Trajan, this majestic aqueduct runs right into Segovia’s lovely historic centre. With two levels of stone arcades, rising to almost 30m in height, it is one of the biggest works of its kind– also one of the best preserved, thanks to a Renaissance restoration by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. An interpretive centre explains the engineering marvels the Roman engineers invented for it.

This gracious city was eastern Spain’s capital in Roman times. Amidst the modern city there’s a theatre, an amphitheatre and circus (stadium for chariot racing), a fine museum and a huge, detailed model of the entire ancient city. Outside town you can visit a stretch of Roman road, a villa with early Christian mosaics, and a well-preserved aqueduct. If you’re brave you can walk over the top of it.

Near the resort city of Antalya on Turkey’s southern coast, this Greco-Roman town has left its relics all over the landscape, including one of the best preserved of all ancient theatres, now home to an international festival of opera and ballet in June and July.

Rome has so many treasures, this one is often overlooked. But with the empire under threat from invaders, Emperor Aurelian gave the city one of the greatest sets of fortifications in the world – a job finished in only five years. 19km long, and almost completely intact today, the circuit includes several monumental gates, and it passes some of the Eternal City’s most interesting monuments.

The ancient Heliopolis, this city conserves a remarkable temple complex dominated by the still-standing, fabulously ornate Temple of Bacchus. Nearby are the six remaining columns of the famous Temple of Jupiter, on a platform of outrageously colossal stones. One, at 1,650 tons, is the largest carved stone on earth. No one can guess how they moved it (one theory suggests space aliens). Trips organized from Beirut, 80km west.

Built in a time of imperial decline, this was the biggest and most lavish bath complex ever built. The main building survives thanks to a rebuilding by none other than Michelangelo, and now it houses the city’s great archaeological museum, the Museo Nazionale Romano.

Rome’s most famous landmark, the Colosseum, was the largest ever amphitheatre ever built – and it still manages to pull a hefty crowd. Built to host gladiatorial contests and handle an unruly crowd of 50,000 spectators, it’s considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering.

Facing Split’s seafront promenade, this vast 3rd-century AD palace was Roman Emperor Diocletian’s retirement home. It now forms the core of Split’s stunning historic centre. In later centuries, medieval, Gothic, Renaissance and baroque buildings were erected within the palace’s sturdy white-marble walls.

In a lovely setting of olive groves and green pastures, this lost provincial city has enough surviving streets and monuments to make the ancient world come alive. The Vandals trashed it, but they left the theatre, a standing temple, and many other buildings. Only an hour to the west there’s another, similar ruined city called Bulla Regia. Both can be seen in a day trip from Tunis.

The Roman capital of Asia Minor and one of the largest cities of the Empire, Ephesus was home to the famous Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, and it played a major role in the history of early Christianity. Today, the enormous Ephesus site, just north of the modern city of Kuşadasi, is a stunning evocation of Roman-era life in the Empire’s east.

To get away from the bustle of Rome, Emperor Hadrian decreed a suburban palace that was a city in itself. Built for pleasure, most of it was gardens, pools, baths, fountains and temples, all in a sumptuous, almost decadent style.

One of the biggest building projects in Roman history, this wall runs for 117km across Britain from Bowness to Tynemouth. Built to keep the Scots out of England, parts are in stone, the rest made with earthen dykes and ditches. Much of it is lovely for walking, and sights along the way include forts like Housesteads and Brocolitia, with its Temple of Mithras, and a museum at Vindolandia.

Pompeii‘s less famous neighbour, the Roman town of Herculaneum was also destroyed by the AD 79 AD eruption. Only partially excavated (a large part of the ancient town still lies under modern Ercolano) it is much smaller but better preserved than Pompeii, and in many ways more vivid. Short suburban train from Naples.

This unique site in southwest Turkey, above the famed calcite travertine pools of Pamukkale, is home to the evocative Roman-era ruins of Hierapolis, dating back to 80 AD. At its height, thousands travelled from across the Roman Empire to bathe in the medicinal hot springs and the town grew to a population of 100,000. Ruined by invaders and earthquakes, it is notable for its fine theatre, impressive necropolis, museum and martyrium of the apostle Philip.

The remarkably well-preserved remains of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa – today known as Jerash – lie 48km north of Amman. Jerash was a Greek city and became wealthy under Roman rule. Modern excavations have unearthed the remains of some magnificently preserved buildings. There are Roman army performances with gladiator fights and a chariot race at the hippodrome. Day trip from Amman or Jerusalem.

A genuine masterpiece of classical architecture, and looking almost good as new after recent restorations, the gleaming white Maison Carree (really a temple to the divine heirs of Augustus) is one of the best-preserved of all Roman buildings. Nearby in the Jardins de la Fontaine is another unique monument, the Tour Magne, a tower offering views over the city.

This magnificent stone theatre, on the southwest slope of the Acropolis, was built by wealthy Roman citizen Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife. One of the largest classical theatres, it had room for an audience of 5,000. Today is it used to host performances, notably during the Athens Festival.

Located where the River Tiber meets the sea, Ostia Antica was Rome’s busy port, and it is one of Italy’s best-preserved and most fascinating archaeological sites. As a port city, it was naturally cosmopolitan: Persian, Phrygian and Egyptian gods were all worshipped in its shrines. Beautiful mosaic pavements (notably in the Forum of the Corporations), warehouses, apartment buildings, merchant’s houses, taverns, baths and a theatre, recall Ostia’s old prosperity on silent streets under the parasol pines.

From Rome’s beginnings the Palatine Hill was the favourite address of the Etruscan and Roman elite. Eventually the entire hill became a magnificent residence for the emperors, overlooking the Forum and the Circus Maximus, which once sat 300,000 people for chariot races. Archaeologists have pinpointed no less than five palaces, built side by side, as well as temples, gardens, and Nero’s revolving dining room.

A rare, partially surviving Gallo-Roman temple in the Dordogne, this temple to an unknown goddess is the centrepiece of this Celtic city’s ruins, now covered in glass and incorporated in the marvellous Vesunna Museum designed by the renowned architect Jean Nouvel.

The eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 smothered the thriving Roman town of Pompeii in choking volcanic ash. Today, you can stroll Pompeii’s streets and see the town as it was that day in almost perfect detail – right down to the graffiti on the walls and ruts in the roads worn by chariot wheels.

The remarkably preserved Pont du Gard near Nimes is a masterpiece of Roman engineering. Built in the 1st century BC as part of a 50km aqueduct, it supplied water to the city (and once was used as a car bridge). There’s a small museum on site that documents the history of the aqueduct, and explains how it was built with a variety of models, virtual reconstructions, multimedia screens and sounds.

Athens’ Agora and the adjacent Roman Agora were the centre of the ancient city. The many monuments here include the Stoa of Attalos, a massive colonnaded building now completely restored and housing a museum. The nearby Tower of the Winds is a lovely building and a testament to Greco-Roman science, with the world’s first known weathervane and sundials and a water clock to keep time.

This superbly-preserved Roman bathing complex was built over naturally occurring hot springs around AD 60; they were in use right up until the end of the Roman occupation circa AD 400. There are four main areas in the complex: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House, and a museum of artefacts.

Few places on earth have witnessed more history. Located beneath the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, the Forum is packed with Rome’s most ancient shrines, temples, basilicas, the Senate House, the infamous Mamertine prison and the Arch of Titus. It was here that the Vestal Virgins kept the sacred flame, politicians addressed the crowds from the rostra and victorious legions held their triumphs along the Sacred Way.

Roman theatres have survived across the Mediterranean, but few can match the glorious one in Orange, where the massive stage wall has survived intact. It is one of the best-preserved ancient theatres in the world, and it served as a venue for theatre and spectacles until the 4th century AD, when the Church shut it down, believing the spectacles to be unholy.

Merida, southwest of Madrid, has the best surviving Roman ruins in Spain, beginning with this great theatre and its beautifully collonaded stage building. It also has the longest surviving Roman bridge, still in use, and much more, including the Temple of Diana, an aqueduct and amphitheatre, and a villa with mosaics. In the countryside you can see two stout Roman dams – these too are still in use.

This fortress was on the front lines of the Empire, facing the barbarian Germans. Square and four-gated, as the Romans liked them, it was meticulously restored to its original appearance at the command of Kaiser Wilhelm II himself. A fascinating site, and a good base for walks along the Roman defensive lines through some pretty countryside. Easy day trip north of Frankfurt.

Near Kasserine in western Tunisia, this abandoned city has a little of everything: three standing temples, two triumphal arches, a theatre and a bath complex with marine mosaics. There’s a museum, and the modern city holds a cultural festival every spring.

Side (see-DEH), on the southern coast east of Antalya, may not have any famous monuments, but plenty of remains survive of the port and walls, temples, agoras, a theatre and a main street once shaded with colonnades. A Turkish resort has grown up amidst the ruins, which makes exploring them quite pleasant.

South of Rome, in the delightful coastal village of Sperlonga, this most decadent of emperors built his pleasure palace on the beach. The complex includes a seaside grotto which Tiberius embellished with a group of spectacular sculptures of the life of Odysseus, now housed in the museum on the site.

Originally a temple to the Olympian Gods, built by Hadrian in AD 118, today this superbly preserved Roman rotunda houses the tomb of Raphael and the first two kings of Italy. Its astonishing 43m dome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world; Hadrian himself may have had a hand in designing it.

Adjacent to Rome’s original Forum, these tremendous ruins were among the greatest works of the Romans. These are several successive squares (foras), built by Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nerva and Trajan; each was a huge collonaded square with a monumental building at the centre.

Trier on the Moselle, Augusta Treverorum, was the capital of the Roman Rhineland. Its relics include this great building, a monumental city gate, as well as the intact Aula Palatina, an enormous basilica built by Constantine, a bridge still in use, and ruins of the baths and amphitheatre.

In Vaison, north of Avignon, the modern city, the medieval city, and the extensive remains of their Roman predecessor lie jumbled charmingly together. Ruins include four grand mansions, a theatre, a fine museum, and a picturesque bridge that still connects the two parts of the town.

One of the biggest and best preserved of all amphitheatres, it had room for 30,000 spectators. Today it is world-famous as a venue for opera (especially Verdi’s Aida) as well as concerts of all sorts throughout the year.

The Romans had a custom of making their burials along the roads leading out from the towns. These often included lavish tombs, and nowhere more than along the capital’s main road to the east. Spared from development and closed to traffic, the Via Appia is one of the most beautiful places in Rome for a walk. Near the road you can also visit the Baths of Caracalla, the Roman Catacombs, and many other sights.

An important Roman city on the Rhone, south of Lyon, Vienne is famous for its well-preserved Temple of Augustus and Livia, and a unique Roman pyramid, the Plan de l’Aiguille (originally a marker for the chariot races in the Circus). Around town you can also see remains of walls, aqueducts and roads, as well as a grand theatre with a view over the city.

Located in Piazza Armerina, in central Sicily, this opulent villa was rediscovered only in the 1920’s. It contains the greatest collection of mosaic floors in situ anywhere in the Roman world, portraying imperial hunting scenes (with elephants), the tale of Orpheus, the Labours of Hercules, and the famous ‘bikini girls’ exercising on the beach.

A provincial town on the edge of the Empire that was Roman for only a short time, Volubilis exported its fine olive oil around the Mediterranean. Its ruins include remains of the Capitoline Temple, gates, a basilica and the triumphal Arch of Caracalla.

This city, in Galicia near Santiago de Compostela, is home to the only complete circuit of Roman city walls in Spain. Built circa AD 276 to defend the town against local tribes and invaders, they encircle the inner city. Over 2km long, with 10 gates and 85 towers.

Just south along the road from Saint-Remy in Provence are two remarkable monuments known as Les Antiques: one is a Triumphal Arch, the other a strikingly well-preserved mausoleum that stands as a memorial dedicated to Julius Caesar and Augustus. Beyond those lie the extensive ruins of the ancient city of Glanum, which – amazingly – were only rediscovered in the 1900s.

Under the name of Lugdunum, Lyon was a flourishing Roman city, founded at the confluence of the Saone and Rhone rivers on the Fourviere Hill in 43 BC. Today, archaeological excavations have exposed an amphitheatre (the oldest in France from Roman Gaul) and a small theatre. In addition to the theatres, a museum houses a vast array of artefacts exposing all aspects of Roman life, from Lugdunum’s urban layout to its circus entertainments.