The Roman Columns above the harbour.

First take in the whole scene: one column rises above the square, while the other's base and a shaft drum remain.

Their position overlooks the inner harbour and belongs to an ancient monumental area of the Roman city.

The second column fell on 20 November 1528.

In 1657 its shaft drums were taken to Lecce for the monument to Saint Oronzo; its base and one drum remained in the square.

Tradition presents the columns as the end point of the Appian Way.

The municipality instead describes them as the culmination of a Roman monumental area: enjoy the story without treating the tradition as archaeological certainty.

The surviving column was first dismantled in 1940 to protect it from wartime bombing.

After further conservation studies, it was dismantled again in 1995; restoration led to reassembly in 2003 with copies of the three most exposed elements.

The staircase rising from the waterfront bears Virgil's name, linked by tradition to his final days in Brindisi.

The steps were widened in 1933: the route you take to reach the columns is itself part of the site's more recent history.