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Ancient Ostia tour
If
you are individual travellers following our links we can offer you to
join a
group
tour (55 euros per person)or a private tour
with private car and private tour guide.
If you have a group (more than 7 people) contact us,we can arrange bus
and tour guide.
Read our itinerary:
Ostium’ Latin name of
Ostia means ‘mouth of the river
reflecting its position along the Tiber river.
Ostia is 18 km away from Rome and it takes about 40 minutes to
reach the archaeological area.
Situated amongst Mediterranean pine and cypress trees, the ruins of the ancient
roman port are better preserved than any other monument in Rome, and in Ostia
you can get a good idea of what everyday life must have been like in ancient
roman times.
Ostia was founded according to the legend by one of the seven roman kings
“Anco Marzio”
It became the harbor of Rome around which, throughout the following centuries, a flourishing trade and business
centre developed.
Over the V century with the Barbarian invasions, the decline of Ostia
began,the port was abandoned and became silted up.
The archaeological excavations started at the beginning of the XIX century and
have brought the ancient city back to light, a rare witness of x centuries of
Roman civilization.
The big difference with many others ancient roman city better preserved than Ostia
like Pompei or Leptis Magna is that Ostia was the
first area to be colonized by the romans and alive up to the end of the
ancient roman empire.
During your tour, your guide will tell you something about the cultural and
social life of this interesting commercial settlement. Start at ‘Via delle Tombe’ (road of the
tombs) ,the cemetery which leads to the ‘Porta Romana’, one of the city’s three gates in direction of
Rome. This is
the beginning of the ‘Decumanus Maximus’, together with
the Cardus Maximus the main thoroughfare that crosses the city
from north east to south west.
Then you will arrive at the ‘Terme di Nettuno’ thermal
baths so called for the Neptune mosaic decorations, the Theater built by Agrippa
still used nowadays then we will see also find the House of Diana so called for
its decoration and its balcony next to it the ‘Thermopolium’ an
ancient Roman snack bar or fast food with a marble counter and frescos
representing fruit and foodstuffs.
The Forum which formed the
centre of the city at the crossing of the Decumano
and the Cardo Maximo. Here you will discover the principle public buildings, “Capitolium’ and the temple of Rome and
Augustus, the
Basilica ,the forum thermal baths and the public latrine.
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