thumb|19th century collage of the twelve obelisks in Rome at the time (the Dogali obelisk was found later). Note the photos of 10 and 11 are incorrectly swapped.
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 from 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.
Ancient Egyptian obelisks
At least eight obelisks created in antiquity by the Egyptians were taken from Egypt after the Roman conquest and brought to Rome.
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| Lateranense
| Tuthmosis III / Tuthmosis IV
| Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano<br><br>
| 32.18 m <br>(45.70 m)
| Tallest obelisk in Rome, and the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, originally weighing around 455 tons. From the temple of Amun in Karnak, and brought to Alexandria with another obelisk by Constantius II, and brought on its own from there to Rome in 357 to decorate the spina of the Circus Maximus. Found in three pieces in 1587, restored approximately 4 m shorter by Pope Sixtus V, and erected near the Lateran Palace and Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in 1588 in the place of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was moved to the Capitoline Hill. Current version weighs around 330 tons.
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| Vaticano
| Unknown
| St. Peter's Square<br><br>
| 25.5 m <br>(41 m)
|| thumb|100px|[[Old St. Peter's Basilica with the obelisk at the left in its original place.]] Originally raised in the Forum Iulium in Alexandria by the prefect Cornelius Gallus on Augustus' orders around 30–28 BC. No hieroglyphs. Brought to Rome by Caligula in 40 for the spina of the Vatican Circus. Relocated by Pope Sixtus V in 1586 using a method devised by Domenico Fontana; the first monumental obelisk raised in the modern period, it is the only obelisk in Rome that has not toppled since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, the gilt ball on top of the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar. Fontana later removed the ancient metal ball, now in a Rome museum, that stood atop the obelisk and found only dust. Pedro Tafur in his Andanças () mentions that many passed between the ground and the "tower" base "thinking it a saintly thing".
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| Flaminio
| Seti I / Ramses II
| Piazza del Popolo<br><br>
| 24 m <br>(36.50 m)
| Originally from Heliopolis. Brought to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC with the Solare obelisk and erected on the spina of the Circus Maximus. Found with the Lateranense obelisk in 1587 in two pieces and erected by Pope Sixtus V in 1589. Sculptures with lion fountains were added to the base in 1818. Weighs around 235 tons.
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| Dogali
| Ramses II
| Baths of Diocletian<br><br>
| ? <br>(6.34 m)
| Originally one of a pair from Heliopolis, the other now in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. Moved to the Temple of Isis in Rome. Found in 1883 by Rodolfo Lanciani near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Now commemorates the Battle of Dogali, originally in front of Near Termini Station and moved to its present site in 1924.
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| Matteiano
| Ramses II
| Villa Celimontana<br><br>
| 2.68 m <br>(12.23 m)
| Originally one of a pair at the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis, the other being the Macuteo which retains much more of its original height. Moved to the Temple of Isis near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Found in the 14th century and erected east of Santa Maria in Aracoeli on the Capitoline. Moved to Villa Celimontana after Michelangelo redesigned the square in the late 16th century. Lost again; fragments rediscovered and re-erected in 1820. Smallest obelisk in Rome.
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Ancient Roman obelisks
At least five obelisks were manufactured in Egypt in the Roman period at the request of the wealthy Romans, or made in Rome as copies of ancient Egyptian originals.
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| Agonalis
(Pamphilius)
| Piazza Navona<br /><br />
| 16.53 m <br>(30+ m)
| A copy commissioned by Domitian and erected at the Temple of Serapis. Moved to the Circus of Maxentius by Maxentius. The Earl of Arundel paid a deposit and attempted to ship the four pieces to London in the late 1630s but Urban VIII disallowed its export.
Erected on top of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi by Bernini in 1651.
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| Quirinale
| Piazza del Quirinale<br /><br />
| 14.63 m <br>(28.94 m)
| Originally erected on the eastern flank of the Mausoleum of Augustus, paired with the Esquiline obelisk. Found in 1527. Erected by Pope Pius VI in 1786 on the Quirinal Hill next to statues of the Dioscuri (called the 'Horse Tamers') from the Baths of Constantine.
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| Esquiline
| Piazza dell'Esquilino<br /><br />
| 14.75 m <br>(25.53 m)
| Originally erected on the western flank of the Mausoleum of Augustus, paired with the Quirinale obelisk. Found in 1527