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WALKING TOURS OF ROME

Ostia Antica

5/1/2019

 
Map
The remains of the ancient city of Ostia Antica, Rome
Ostia Antica

A short train ride from the centre lie the extensive remains of the ancient city of Ostia Antica, one of Rome's better kept secrets. 

No less an authority than the Blue Guide to Rome waxes lyrical on the Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica: “The excavations of the city of Ostia are one of the most interesting and beautiful sights near Rome. The ruins, in a lovely park of umbrella pines and cypresses, give a remarkable idea of the domestic and commercial life of the Empire in the late 1st-2nd centuries AD and are as important for the study of Roman Urban architecture as the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.”


For centuries, Ostia served as Rome’s port. It now sits two miles inland, but was originally sited at the mouth of the river Tiber, Ostium Tiberis, from which it takes its name. Shortly before the onset of the first Punic war, in 264 BCE, Ostia had become the principal base for Rome's fleet. It soon increased in importance as a port for Rome’s provisions. 

Ostia flourished between the first and third centuries CE, when its population peaked at some 100,000 inhabitants. As the river Tiber began to silt up, the Emperor Claudius (r. 41-54) moved the fleet to the newly-built Portus Romae, a large artificial harbour, which was sited a short distance to the north of Ostia. The town’s decline began when Portus was declared autonomous by the Emperor Constantine (r. 306-337) in 314. 


After the fall of the Roman Empire in the west in 476, Ostia slowly fell into decay as the population of Rome, which stood at between 700-800,000 in 400, contracted to roughly 200,000 a century later.

​Ostia was finally abandoned in the 9th century following the repeated invasions and sackings by 
Arab pirates. 

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    Walking Tours For Discerning Travellers

    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private and
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  • Home
  • Private Tours
  • Small-Group Tours
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
      • Pope Gregory XIII
      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
      • Pope Benedict XIV
      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Gallery
    • Piazzas >
      • Piazza del Campidglio
      • Piazza del Quirinale
      • Piazza del Popolo
      • Piazza di Spagna
      • Piazza Navona
      • Piazza S. M. in Trastevere
      • Piazza San Pietro
    • Mosaics
    • Fountains
    • Churches
    • Ancient Rome
    • Palaces
    • Domes
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
    • Old Photographs
    • Borromini & the Baroque