50 Best Roman ruins to visit

Set on a low hill, this is the biggest and one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in France, where 20,000 would come to watch gladiators fight to the death.

Built in the late 1st century AD, it was inspired by Rome’s Coliseum, which had been built a decade earlier – and was later converted into a fortress in the Middle Ages (an era from which three towers still survive). Originally the amphitheatre had a third level of arcades, but even now there are lovely views over the rosy tile rooms of Arles from the top level.

A designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s now used as an arena again, it’s used for bullfights during Arles’ Easter and September festivals, as well as the bloodless Courses Camarguaises bullfights, and occasional gladiatorial re-enactments.

Be sure to visit the ancient theatre, too, which is included in the ticket – built in the century before the amphitheatre, it’s not as well-preserved, but still used for performances.

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 Arenes’, as the Nimois call it, is now restored, and used for bullfights, courses camarguaises (bloodless bullfights), historical re-enactments and concerts.

Dedicated to pleasure and under the protection of Aphrodite, goddess of love, this ruined city 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. A small museum holds artefacts excavated from the site.

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.

This exceptional Roman temple complex is one of the best-preserved examples of Roman architecture in the world.

Situated on a hill overlooking the surrounding valley, the enormous site includes the remains of two exceptional Roman temples – the Temple of Bacchus and the Temple of Jupiter, the latter distinguished by its 6 remaining columns. Both date from the mid-1st century – the height of the Roman Empire.

The site was known as ‘Heliopolis’ (meaning Sun City in Greek) during Roman times, though it had been a site of worship since 8,000 BC. The current name derives from the Phoenician sky god, Baal; the Phoenicians (1500 BC – 300 BC) built the first significant temple here.

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.

Built by Emperor Vespasian beginning in AD 72 and known as the Flavian Amphitheatre in ancient times, the thrilling Colosseum still manages to pull a hefty crowd.

Inaugurated by the Emperor’s son, Titus, in AD 80, it could hold an unruly crowd of more than 50,000 spectators. With a circumference of 545m, it’s considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering.

The remarkably well-preserved walls, seating stands and underground tunnels are an evocative reminder of gory gladiatorial history.

Lovers of the film Gladiator will relish a guided tour of the monumental arena, where gladiatorial contests and traditional games were held.

Facing Split’s seafront promenade, this vast 3rd-century palace – now integrated into the historic centre – was Roman emperor Diocletian’s retirement home. The emperor’s apartments overlooked the sea, while servants and soldiers occupied the rest of the complex, which centres on the Cathedral and Peristil, where Diocletian made public appearances.

Later on, medieval, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings were erected within the white marble walls, and it became a city. Today, it’s a world-famous UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Split’s must-see attraction.

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.

With its cobbled streets, spectacular surviving villa interiors and painstakingly restored facades, Turkey’s best-known ancient site stunningly evokes Roman-era life in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. It’s rare to experience a city quite so rich in architectural detailing, not least inscriptions, statuary and restored facades.

Wandering Ephesus’ main street, past a wealth of buildings including bathhouses, temples and the exceptional Library of Celsus, is an unmissable experience for anybody with the least fascination for the past.

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 city of Herculaneum, was also destroyed by the AD 79 AD eruption, buried under a thick layer of volcanic ash.

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 offers a more vivid glimpse into daily life in ancient Rome. You can see well-preserved buildings, intricate mosaics, and even carbonised wooden furniture.

It’s also far less busy than Pompeii – making it a more authentic and evocative experience.

This unique ancient site is home to the evocative Roman-era ruins of Hierapolis, an arresting UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to AD 80.

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. The town was eventually destroyed, first by marauding Persian armies, then later by a devastating earthquake.

Today, it is notable for its fine theatre, impressive necropolis, museum and martyrium of the apostle St. 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 in the third century BC and became a wealthy city under Roman rule. After falling into decline, the city was eventually buried by sands until excavation and restoration during the past 70 years unearthed the remains of some magnificently preserved buildings. Evokes powerful ghosts of Rome.

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.

You can’t visit Athens without visiting the Acropolis. It is the city’s iconic citadel and world-famous landmark that won’t fail to amaze even the most jaded traveller.  

‘Acropolis’ translates broadly from the Greek words ‘highest point’ or ‘extremity’. The site contains half-a-dozen buildings, mostly built from 500 BC to 450 BC on the orders of the powerful statesman Pericles, during the so-called ‘Golden age of Athens’. Pericles wanted to beautify, glorify and protect the city. 

The Pathenon 

A marble jigsaw made of 70,000 pieces, this 2,500-year-old temple dating back to 438 BC was dedicated to the goddess Athena. It dazzles with perfect symmetry and awe-inspires with its ancient grandeur, even when it’s crawling with tourists. It’s the most important surviving building of Classical Greece and a symbol of the nation. 

The Erechtheion 

On the north side of the complex, this Temple of was also dedicated to the goddess Athena, and was built to house the statue of Athena Polias. More famously today, it’s home to the ‘Porch of the Maidens’, featuring six sculpted female figures. 

Located where the River Tiber meets the sea, Ostia Antica was the harbour city of ancient Rome, and is one of Italy’s best-preserved archaeological sites.

As a port, 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 (insulae), merchant’s houses, taverns, baths and a theatre, recall Ostia’s old prosperity on silent streets under the parasol pines.

Rome was officially born on 21 April 753 BC when the sons of Mars, Romulus and Remus, were found suckled by a she-wolf on the Palatine Hill. It was the favourite address of the Etruscan and Roman elite, and emperors whose magnificent Flavian residence overlooked the Forum. Although the imperial box is long gone, the Palatine offers the best views over the remains of the Circus Maximus, which once sat 300,000 people for chariot races.

Archaeologists have pinpointed the House of Tiberius, Temple of Cybele, Nero’s revolving dining room and the Domus Flavia, all amid the beautiful 17th-century Farnese Gardens.

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 Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 famously smothered the thriving Roman town of Pompeii with molten lava and choking volcanic ash.

Today, you can stroll along Pompeii’s streets and see the town as it was that day in extraordinarily vivid detail – right down to ruts in the roads caused by chariot wheels. Peer into perfectly preserved homes and shops, and wander round the Forum and Roman Baths.

The remarkably preserved Pont du Gard is a masterpiece of Roman engineering. Built in the 1st century BC as part of a 50km aqueduct, it once supplied 30,000m³ of water daily to Nimes and until recently 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 collonaded 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 baths complex is Bath’s number one attraction, drawing in excess of a million visitors per year. 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. They stand today as a testament to the remarkable sophistication of Roman society and offer a fascinating insight into Roman life.

In case you’re wondering, bathing in the baths was ended in 1978, as the borehole water is no longer considered sufficiently hygienic. If you want the modern-day Roman bath experience, the nearby Thermae Bath Spa uses the same natural spring water taken from more recently drilled boreholes.

Few places on earth have witnessed more history. Located between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, the Forum is packed with Rome’s most ancient shrines, temples (which doubled as banks and art galleries), the Curia (Senate) and basilicas (law courts), 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 (much admired by Louis XIV) has survived intact.

Built early in the 1st century AD, it’s one of the best-preserved Ancient Roman theatres in the world and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It served as a venue for theatre and spectacles until the 4th century AD, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and the Church shut it down, believing the spectacles to be unholy.

Today up to 10,000 spectators can still sit and enjoy its pitch-perfect ancient acoustics, under the watchful eye of a statue of Augustus, when it’s used for live performances including summer’s fabulous Les Choregies d’Orange opera festival. A ticket to the ancient theatre includes admission to the Musée d’Orange (Museum of Orange), which contains archaeological finds and paintings from the area.

Merida, southwest of Madrid, has the best surviving Roman ruins in Spain, beginning with this great theatre and its beautifully colonnaded 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) 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.

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.

One of Rome’s best-preserved landmarks, the Pantheon was originally a temple to the Gods. Rebuilt by Hadrian in AD 118 – it has been a church ever since 609.

Inside the original bronze doors, the astonishing 43m dome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world; as a compliment to it, Michelangelo made the cupola of St. Peter’s a touch smaller. Originally the entire dome ceiling was covered with bronze plates, until Bernini convinced the Pope to let him strip them off to make the baldacchino in St. Peter’s – and there was enough bronze left over for 60 cannons.

Raphael and the first two kings of Italy are buried here.

Adjacent to Rome’s original Forum, these tremendous ruins – a series of squares known as fora – were among the greatest works of the Romans.

These are several successive works, built by Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nerva and Trajan; each was a huge collonaded square with a monumental building at the centre.

Trajan’s had a great library as well as Trajan’s Column, covered in reliefs celebrating imperial victories. Next to this is the enormous, well-preserved Trajan’s Market, which has been called the ‘world’s first shopping mall’.

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.

If time allows, take a day trip to the chocolate-box town of Vienne, just south of Lyon along the Rhone river. It’s famed for its quaint streets and France’s largest Roman theatre, where big-name musicians play in annual summer music festivals.

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.

Lugo is home to the only complete and intact Roman city defensive walls anywhere in the Roman Empire. Built circa 276 AD to defend the town against local tribesmen and Germanic invaders, they encircle the inner city. 2kms long, with 10 doors and 85 towers.

Just south along the road from Saint-Remy, towards the Alpilles are two remarkable Roman monuments known as ‘Les Antiques: a Triumphal Arch’, and the strikingly well-preserved ‘Mausoleum’ that stands as a memorial dedicated to Julius Caesar and Augustus.

Beyond those lie the extensive and impressive ruins of the ancient city of Glanum, which – amazingly – were only rediscovered in the 1900s. Ancient Glanum was a Gaulish fortified town founded around a sacred spring in the 6th century BC. It became an official Roman city in 27BC, in the wake of Julius Caesar’s conquest of the region.

The surrounding landscapes of olives and cypresses here are pure Van Gogh: he painted many of his best-known works in these parts.

Under the name of Lugdunum, Lyon was a flourishing Roman city, founded at the confluence of the Saone and Rhone rivers on Fourviere Hill in 43 BC.

Today, archaeological excavations have exposed two vastly important sites, an amphitheatre (the oldest in France from Roman Gaul) and a small theatre, both of which are now part of this fantastic museum.

In addition to the theatres, the museum houses a vast array of artefacts exposing all aspects of Roman life, from Lugdunum’s urban layout to its circus entertainment and army missions.