Scavi di Palazzo Granafei-Nervegna

When restoration work began at Palazzo Granafei-Nervegna in 2000, it uncovered a Roman town house beneath the building. The excavations preserve mosaic floors, late-antique tombs and the capital, pulvino and upper drum from one of Brindisi's famous harbour columns.

Why it matters

The site connects the domestic life of Roman Brindisi with the port's best-known monument. A prestigious residence occupied this block in the imperial period, while the palace houses original crowning pieces of the surviving harbour column. The original marble elements are preserved indoors; the seafront column carries a replica.

What to notice

The domus dates from between the second half of the first century and the second century AD. Its floors include black-and-white mosaics and pavements of polychrome marble. In the courtyard, box tombs built from reused blocks belong to a later phase, and ceramics record continued use into the late Middle Ages. Inside the palace's former audience hall, the original capital, pulvino and upper drum of the harbour column are displayed; the carved capital features sea deities and tritons.

Context and history

Recovery work on the sixteenth-century palace brought Roman walls and floors to light beneath the structure. The municipal excavation presents a residential quarter of notable quality from the period when Brindisi was an important port. One of the paired harbour columns fell in the sixteenth century. Parts of the shaft were later sent to Lecce and reused by Giuseppe Zimbalo in the column of Sant'Oronzo. The surviving column was restored between 1996 and 2002; its original crowning pieces remained in Brindisi, while a replica was placed on the harbour column.