54 Old Ruins to Explore in Italy

This Roman bridge of war and love is located in the northern part of Rome is perhaps one of the more significant, yet lesser-known landmarks of the Roman Empire. Originally constructed of stone in the 2nd century by Gaius Claudius Nero. It was an economically and strategically important bridge in the era of the Roman Empire and was the site of the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, which led to the imperial rule of Constantine.

The Cimitero Monumentale is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy, the other one being the Cimitero Maggiore. It is noted for the abundance of artistic tombs and monuments. The site allows visitors to time-travel into the history of Milan, as they can spot the tombs of figures whose names now adorn major metro stations, roads, and squares. During the following years, neoclassical arcades and buildings inspired by Hellenistic architecture were added to this area.

Morgantina is an ancient Sicilian and Greek city, an archaeological site in the territory of Aidone, an Italian town in the province of Enna in Sicily. The city was unearthed in the fall of 1955 by the archaeological mission of Princeton University. The excavations carried out so far allow us to follow the development of the settlement for a period of about a millennium, from prehistory to the Roman era.

One of the largest bath complex in ancient Rome, which has a capacity of over 3,000 people. It served as a bath for the people residing in the Viminal, Quirinal, and Esquiline quarters of the city. This architectural complex, located close to the Termini rail station and the Palazzo Massimo Museum, is one of the most popular archaeological museums and sites in Rome, with about 1 million yearly visitors.

The necropolis of the Crocefisso del Tufo is an Etruscan necropolis located at the base of the cliff of Orvieto , which reached its maximum extension between the middle of the sixth century BC and the middle of the following century. It is accessed from a pedestrian street connected to the pedestrian walkway that surrounds the cliff. The small church that gave the necropolis its name can also be reached via a charming pedestrian path that descends from Porta Maggiore.

Rock necropolis of Pantalica, are a naturalistic-archaeological site in the province of Syracuse. The name of the site seems to derive from the Arabic Buntarigah, which means 'caves', due to the obvious presence of multiple natural and artificial caves. It is one of the most important Sicilian proto-historic sites, useful for understanding the moment of transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age on the island.

The Arrubiu nuraghe is a Nuragic complex located in the territory of the municipality of Orroli in the province of Southern Sardinia. It owes its name to the characteristic red color due to the lichens that cover it and is the largest and most complex nuraghe in Sardinia and one of the major proto-historic monuments in all of Western Europe. It is the only premeditated nuraghe present in Sardinia, as well as one of the largest, consisting of a central tower surrounded by five other towers aroun

The nuraghe La Prisgiona is a nuragic archaeological site, located in the Capichera valley in the municipality of Arzachena, in the province of Sassari. The complex consists of a nuraghe and a village of about 90-100 huts, spread over five hectares. Due to its large extension and the number of buildings, the site is considered unique in the Gallura nuragic context. Nearby is also the tomb of the giants of Coddu Vecchiu.

Palatine Hill is a four-sided plateau rising 131 feet south of the Forum in Rome and 168 feet above sea level. The site is now mainly a large open-air museum while the Palatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites. During the Republican Period, Roman citizens belonging to the upper class settled in this area and built sumptuous palaces, of which important traces are still preserved.

Palazzo Barberini is one of the most overlooked art museums in Rome. The 17th-century palace is incredibly centrally located – just around the corner from the quattro fontane and a few streets over from the Trevi Fountain. The sloping site had formerly been occupied by a garden-vineyard of the Sforza family, in which a palazzetto had been built in 1549. The sloping site passed from one cardinal to another during the sixteenth century, with no project fully getting off the ground.

The Roman Pantheon is the monument with the greatest number of records: the best preserved, with the biggest brick dome in the history of architecture, and is considered the forerunner of all modern places of worship. It is the most copied and imitated of all ancient works. It was built in 27-25 BC by the magistrate Marcus Agrippa in order to commemorate the victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the battle of Actium. Later this original temple was burned down in 80 AD. It was then completely

Piazza del Duomo is the main square of Milan, its real geometric center and commercial for over seven centuries. It is the vital center of the city, a meeting point for the Milanese to celebrate important events and, together with the adjacent Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an iconic place par excellence of the metropolis and a destination for visitors and tourists from all over the world.

Piazza Navona is one of the largest and most beautiful piazza squares in Rome with three impressive fountains, including la Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi with its large obelisk at the center. The baroque church of Sant'Agnese in Agone provides an impressive backdrop. Defined as a public space in the last years of the 15th century, when the city market was transferred there from the Campidoglio, Piazza Navona was transformed into a highly significant example of Baroque Roman architecture.

Palazzo Pitti is an imposing Renaissance palace in Florence. It is located in the Oltrarno area, a short distance from Ponte Vecchio. The original core of the building dates back to 1458, as the urban residence of the banker Luca Pitti. The palace was then purchased by the Medici family in 1549 and became the main residence of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, first Medici and from 1737 Habsburg-Lorraine.

The Pyramid of Cestius was most likely built between 18 and 12 BC. The 36-meter high pyramid was built as a tomb for a wealthy Roman under the sway of all things Egyptian. It is a remarkable monument, made of white Carrara marble and exactly 100 Roman feet high. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via Marmorata.

The Quirinale is one of the primary places in the life of the Italian Republic. It is one of the great examples of heritage of art, history and culture of inestimable value and of testaments to the hard work, creativity and genius of the Italian people. The palace is on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome. It housed thirty popes, four kings and eleven presidents of the Italian Republic. The palace extends for an area of 110,500 square metres and is the eleventh-largest pal

The "Antonino Salinas" Regional Archaeological Museum is a museum based in Palermo. It has one of the richest collections of archaeological d ' Italy and testimonies of Sicilian history in all its stages, ranging from prehistory to the Middle Ages. Inside are preserved the finds and artifacts of the peoples who determined the history of the island: Phoenicians, Punic, Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines, but also artifacts from other peoples such as the Egyptians and the Etruscans.

The Amphitheatre of Catania is a Roman amphitheatre in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, built in the Roman Imperial period, probably in the 2nd century AD, on the northern edge of the ancient city at the base of the Montevergine hill. Only a small section of the structure is now visible, below ground level, to the north of Piazza Stesicoro. This area is now the historic centre of the city, but was then on the outskirts of the ancient town and also occupied by the necropoleis of Catania.

The Roman Forum for centuries was the ancient Romans' point of reference in terms of the law, religion, and social life. Originally used as a necropolis, it was later the battle theatre of Lake Curzio, hosting combats between the Romans and Sabines. Such was documented by the Roman historian Livy. For centuries the Forum was the center of day-to-day life in Rome: the site of triumphal processions and elections; the venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches; and the nuc

St. Peter's Square is probably one of the world’s most famous squares and one of the most breath-taking. Designed by Bernini during the seventeenth century, it houses over 300,000 people. The most impressive part of the square, besides its size, is its 284 columns and 88 pilasters that flank the square in a colonnade of four rows. Above the columns, there are 140 statues of saints created in 1670 by the disciples of Bernini.