Images As you can see from the remains of the Roman walls in the garden of the Museum, Roman buildings were in the past integrated with the new ones

An interesting aspect of the buildings of medieval and modern times of Milan is the integration of structures from different ages, but in “reverse” chronological order. Due to space limitations, imposed by the cadastral borders, and the chronic lack of building materials the Roman remains were integrated within the new buildings. The basements of the new houses were often built by adding a new wall underneath the Roman one. The cellars of some Milanese houses show this peculiar technique, called “underpinning”: the lower part, that is supposed to be the most antique, is in fact the most recent, while just above is the level of Roman bricks and above there may be another level, of medieval bricks.