A major restoration project to reconstruct part of the Basilica Ulpia, once the largest basilica in Rome, is currently nearing completion in Trajan's Forum. An architrave topped by a second tier of three columns in green cipollino marble have been added to the ruins using anastylosis, a restoration process which incorporates the original architectural elements to the greatest degree possible.
For the past century the three cipollino marble columns had been positioned erroneously elsewhere in Trajan's Forum until being restored to their rightful place, along the outer perimeter of the basilica's first nave. Towering at a height of 23 metres, the partially reconstructed monument adds a whole new dimension to the ancient site, granting visitors a sense of the vast scale of the building.
