Rome - December 28, 2011 - Column of Trajan

Column of Trajan: Built in 113 CE as part of Trajan’s imperial forum it once stood in a rather small piazza behind his basilica and wedged in-between two libraries. These were at least two stories tall so you could actually see the column from several levels, unlike today. It is quite striking in the modern era, even  as it rises out of a haze of exhaust fumes in the center of a busy motorway.

Once it was topped with a statue of Trajan and there was (or rather still is ) a legend that the column base or top contained an urn with Trajan's ashes, Wikipedia said that the senate voted for such a burial, not sure about their sources though.

The column now has a big ol' honkin' statue of St. Peter at the summit, placed there by Pope Sixtus the V, though I am sure he did not do it himself.

Right next to this is Trajan's Market. A multi story brick building, probably once faced with stone, that served as an indoor market. One of the first shopping malls if you will. Each floor had different vendors, oils, textiles, terracotta and made goods etc.

Trajan's Market