The Eternal City – Rome 5 – Ostia Antica

Ostia Antica was the site of the ancient seaport of Rome at the mouth of the Tiber River.  It’s about 20 miles from the city, an easy train ride.  This was Rome’s harbor until it silted up in AD 113 and the small city (up to 75,000 people) began it’s decline.  Over the years it fell into disrepair and was eventually abandoned in the 9th century.  There is a cool video on the Ostia Antica website showing how it may have looked. http://www.ostia-antica.org/

The oldest finds date back to the 4th century BC but most of the buildings remaining today are from the 3rd century BC.

No huge crowds in November!  We used a Rick Steve’s audio tour to guide us around. We uploaded it to our phones before we left home.  There are just a few places that are chained off protecting artifacts, otherwise you are free to wander where you like.  

Walk with me!

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Guess what these are….  Romans were very social ..!

 

There’s a small museum containing statues found at the site.

 

 

 

Archeologists continue to uncover more and, just as quickly, Mother Nature tries to cover it all up again.

 

 

 

The ruins stretch for several miles ….we could not see everything in our one day visit.  The best part is being able to get right up close to the old walls and stumble across a tile floor that was in someone’s house so long ago.  I would really like to come back here again someday!