ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK OF OSTIA ANTICA
As its name suggests (from ostium, “mouth”), the ancient city of Ostia owes its existence to the proximity of the Tiber and the sea . In fact, before the disastrous flood of 1557, the course of the river was very different from today and ran along the northern side of the town, while now it only touches a short stretch to the west. Even the sea, in ancient times, was closer than it is today.
According to tradition, the king of Rome Ancus Marcius founded Ostia in 620 BC to exploit the salt mines at the mouth of the Tiber. The oldest remains known to date are however later, that is, from the second half of the 4th century BC: these are the ruins of a fortified complex ( castrum ) in blocks of tuff, built by Roman colonists to defend the mouth of the Tiber and the coast of Lazio.With the predominance of Rome over the Mediterranean (2nd century BC), Ostia lost its military function to become, as a river port, the capital's main mercantile emporium .
At the end of the Republican era, Ostia was already a prosperous commercial center surrounded by walls in which the entrances to the inhabited center opened, conventionally known as Porta Romana , Porta Laurentina and Porta Marina . Outside, along the Via Ostiense and Via Laurentina, the necropolises for the inhabitants of the colony extended and, in front of the ancient beach, the sepulchral monuments of the richest and most powerful people stood.
In the 2nd century AD, Ostia became increasingly prosperous and populous (some estimates speak of 50,000 inhabitants ), and hosted multiple economic and commercial activities linked to the nearby Imperial Ports of Claudius and Trajan . The arrangement of the Forum and the construction of thermal baths, horrea (grain warehouses), scholae (headquarters for professional associations), insulae (large rental buildings) and the Capitolium (the city's main temple) date back to this period.
From the mid-3rd century AD, many commercial activities were transferred to Porto and from literary sources we learn that Ostia, in the mid-6th century AD, appeared abandoned and isolated, with navigation on the river full of obstacles and the Via Ostiense now overgrown.
The archaeological area of Ancient Ostia is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday and holidays.
Opening hours: 8.30am
Closing time:
- from 25 October to 28 (or 29) February: last entry 3.30pm with exit 4.30pm;
- from March 1st to March 31st: last entry 4.15pm with exit 5.15pm;
- from 1st April to 30th September: last entry 18.00 with exit 19.00;
- from 1st October to 24th October: last entry 5.30pm with exit 6.30pm.
We recommend a guided tour with Civitatis click here
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