One could say there’s a lot to see in Italy, but that would be an understatement. There are enough ruins and Romans, art and archaeology to send you into historical overload. Many travellers think that they have to hit the major metropoles to witness the grandeur of fallen empires, but that isn’t the case.

Aquileia is a small town dominated by its Roman history. Located in the far north-east of Italy, halfway between Venice and the Slovenian border, Aquileia was founded in 180BC as a garrison town, but quickly became a city of major importance in trade.

These days it is tiny enough to be easily overlooked on any map and it’s biggest attraction is the Basilica with a magnificent fourth century Roman mosaic floor.

The floor was found only recently. Over centuries of use and modernisations, the floor had been covered and it wasn’t until restoration work last century that the forgotten mosaic was rediscovered. Thanks to it’s centuries of protective covering, the mosaic is as vibrant and intact as it had been all those years ago. Newly constructed glass walkways allow you to wander above it and wonder.

Mosaic floor of the Aquileia Basilica

Within the Basilica are also a number of apses and crypts worth checking out. The Critpa degli Affresci contains twelfth century murals including a somewhat graphic decapitation and a number of bone reliquaries, with skulls and hip bones decked, with questionable fashion sense, in sequins and lace. The Cripta degli Scavi (crypt of excavations) is where archaeological digs are uncovering layers of remains of buildings, from original parts of the Basilica down to the layers of original Roman buildings with their mosaics and canalization and the whole area pierced through by the foundations of the bell tower.

Cripta degli Affreschi by orsorama

Aquileia contains many other ruins. A forum, the harbour, an amphitheatre and a necropolis are scattered through the little town. While only about fifty kilometres from Venice, Aquileia doesn’t suffer the hordes of camera toting tourists the large cities do yet contains enough history to keep you occupied for a pleasant day’s history hunting.