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The Via Alessandrina runs through the heart of Rome, cutting between the Forums of Nerva, Augustus, and Trajan. Built around 1570, the road became a busy thoroughfare used by commoners, clergy, and cardinals alike. Today, new excavations along the Via Alessandrina are revealing how this area was used in relation to the adjacent imperial forums. These excavations are part of a larger project aimed at lowering the modern ground level, raised over centuries of medieval buildup, and making the ancient structures easier for visitors to view and explore.
By the 10th century, a church stood over the ruined Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus. Known as San Basilio in Scala Mortuorum (San Basilio at the Staircase of the Dead), its name referred to a staircase that descended into an underground cemetery. Over time, this medieval neighborhood evolved into the Alessandrino Quarter, established in the late 16th century by Cardinal Michele Bonelli. A nephew of Pope Pius V and originally from the province of Alessandria in Piedmont, Bonelli gave the district its name and constructed the Via Alessandrina atop the remains of the imperial forums. Stretching 400 meters from the Column of Trajan to the Basilica of Maxentius, the street was lined with everything from modest shops to grand Baroque palaces, including the residence of Pope Sixtus IV.
In the 1930s, the neighborhood was demolished as part of Mussolini’s urban redevelopment and propaganda campaign. Homes, churches, and public buildings were cleared to create the Via del Foro Imperiale, exposing the Forums of Trajan and Augustus but erasing much of Rome’s medieval and Renaissance heritage. Since the 1990s, archaeological research in the area has intensified, with scholars now examining not only the ancient remains but also the layers of later history once removed or overlooked. The new archaeological walkways and viewing areas will offer visitors a more complete understanding of the site, integrating Rome’s ancient, medieval, and early modern past into a single, accessible landscape.
Bibliography:
- “Colossal Marble Head Excavated in Roman Street.” Archaeology Magazine. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/06/26/colossal-marble-head-excavated-in-roman-street/
- Merola, Marco. (2019). “A God Goes Shopping.” Archaeology Magazine. https://archaeology.org/issues/september-october-2019/digs-discoveries/trenches-italy-rome-dionysus-head/
- Siwicki, Christopher. (2025). “Beyond Statues: All About the New Excavations in Rome.” Art & Object. https://www.artandobject.com/news/beyond-statues-all-about-new-excavations-rome
- “The Archaeological Excavation of Via Alessandrina is Concluded: a New Portion of the Imperial Forums Comes to Light.” Turismo Roma. https://www.turismoroma.it/en/news/archaeological-excavation-alessandrina-concluded-new-portion-imperial-forums-comes-light
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Cite this page as: Darius Arya, The American Institute for Roman Culture, “Newest Excavations in the Imperial Fora,” Ancient Rome Live. Last modified 01/12/2026. https://ancientromelive.org/newest-excavations-in-the-imperial-fora
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