Travel tips ITALY: in Ostia Antica, Rome
Ostia Antica is the ancient port city of ancient Rome. The archaeological remains lie just north of today’s Ostia, directly on the Tiber.
In ancient times, Ostia was still located directly on the sea. Today’s Ostia was formed by siltation over the last 1,500 years and is around 3 kilometers away. Ostia Antica is probably the first colony outside Rome. In the truest sense of the word, the beginning of the world empire lay here.
Visitors can walk unhindered through around 100 hectares of Roman excavations and explore the witnesses of the past with complete freedom.
Marcus Agrippa’s theater was designed for 3,000 people. It is quite impressive when you sit down in this theater circle today, just like a Roman citizen once did, and can imagine the classic scenes in person.
Ostia had been inhabited since the third century BC. A military port from here was organized to supply the army against Hannibal in Spain, and from here Cornelius Scipio Calvus drove to Spain to fight the Carthaginians.
Not only mosaics, but also wall paintings were carefully uncovered and preserved by archaeologists. However, only about two-thirds of the ancient city has been excavated so far. After Pompeii, which has a completely different history and past, Ostia Anticia is, in my opinion, the most important archaeological site outside of Rome.
In the late antique high imperial period, Ostia was the seat of a bishop. The place became famous in 387 AD when the mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo died here on her journey home to North Africa. This time was handed down as a chapter on life in late antique Ostia in Augustine’s “Confessions”.
Just like Rome, Ostia was then destroyed by the Ostrogoths, fell more and more into disrepair and was then abandoned at the time of the migration of peoples, more and more abandoned and finally completely forgotten.
Grass literally grew over the city and its history.
The first excavation activities began around 1804. Today it is one of the most important excavation sites of ancient Rome.
The entire park is located about 30 km west of Rome.
The ticket for Ostia Antica costs twelve euros. Children up to 18 years old get in free: This is a place away from the hustle and bustle of tourists, making it ideal for a day trip on your next visit to Rome.
