Trajan's Markets Reopen in Rome

Trajan’s Markets reopened to the public today in Rome after more than two years of restoration and construction. The new Museum of the Imperial Forums also opened today, according to the Italian news agency, ANSA. The refurbished markets and new museum are the first steps in the creation of a number of old and new museums and cultural sites on Rome’s Capitoline Hill.
Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni calls this new exhibition area, to be completed in 2010, “a new Louvre.”

“The museum holds symbolic pieces from every forum,” says Trajan Forum archaeological chief Lucrezia Ungaro. According to ANSA, “Stand-outs include a bronze foot from a Winged Victory in the Forum of Augustus; an armoured figure from Trajan’s Forum and two pieces from Caesar’s Forum; and a frieze with cupids and a cornice stone from the Temple of Venus decorated with dolphins and tridents.”