List of obelisks in Rome

The city of Rome harbours thirteen ancient obelisks, the most in the world. There are eight ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks in Rome, together with a number of more modern obelisks. The Egyptian obelisks were ordered to be brought to city by Roman Emperors in antiquity. There was also until 2005 an ancient Ethiopian obelisk in Rome, which was taken by Italy in the 1930s but returned to Ethiopia.

The Romans used special heavy cargo carriers called obelisk ships to transport the monuments they took form Egyptian temples down the Nile to Alexandria and from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome. On site, large Roman cranes were employed to erect the monoliths.