Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a valuable tool in the imaging and assessment of patients with ankylosing spondylitis. MRI can demonstrate the acute and chronic changes of sacroiliitis, osteitis, discovertebral lesions, disc calcifications and ossification and arthopathic lesions, which characterize the disease, as well as the complications, which include fracture and the rare cauda equina syndrome. This article reviews the range of MRI findings commonly seen within the axial skeleton in patients with this condition.