Domus del Chirurgo

The Domus del Chirurgo, the Surgeon's House, is a small but exceptional archaeological site under a glass canopy in the middle of Piazza Ferrari. You walk on raised gangways across intact Roman mosaic floors, including the famous Orpheus mosaic showing the musician charming a circle of beasts.

Combined ticket with the adjacent Museo della Città, where the surgical instruments themselves are displayed alongside the broader Rimini archaeological collection. Allow ninety minutes for the pair.

things to do sight museum
A story
Excavations under Piazza Ferrari in 1989 uncovered a Roman doctor's house destroyed by fire in the late third century AD. Among the wreckage was the most complete set of Roman surgical instruments ever found — more than 150 bronze probes, scalpels, forceps, and bone-saws, still arrayed where the doctor left them. Today they sit in a glass case in the museum upstairs.