Trajan's Column Site Features

The frieze

The whole reason for the thing. Imagined as a scroll wound in a spiral, it makes 23 turns round the shaft and runs roughly 200 metres, densely animated with scenes. The Sovrintendenza counts about 2,500 figures; Wikipedia counts 2,662 figures and 155 scenes.

Trajan, 58 or 59 times

The emperor appears over and over through the narrative — 59 times by the Sovrintendenza's count, 58 by Wikipedia's. Finding him is the best way to read the lower turns: look for the figure everyone else is oriented towards.

The crossing of the Danube

Near the bottom, and therefore one of the few scenes you can actually see: the army filing over a bridge of boats while the river god reclines at the left and watches. It is the opening of the campaign, and it is at eye level.

The 185 steps

A spiral staircase runs inside the shaft to the summit. No authority publishes hours, tickets or any means of climbing it, so it is a fact about the building rather than an option for a visit.

The base, which is a tomb

A golden urn with the ashes of Trajan, who died on 8 August 117, was placed in it. Wikipedia adds that the Senate voted for the burial and that the ashes of his wife Plotina were set there too.

Saint Peter on top

A gilded bronze statue of Trajan originally stood on the summit and disappeared in the Middle Ages. On 4 December 1587 Pope Sixtus V crowned the column with a bronze figure of Saint Peter, which remains.

The drums

17 colossal monolithic drums of white Carrara marble nearly four metres across, says the Sovrintendenza; 20, each about 32 tons, says Wikipedia. Look for the horizontal joints running through the carving.