The Eternal City shows the most important features of the glorious past and lives on its own myth. But how about  a simple day in the life of a Roman? Visiting Ostia means learning more about the ancient Rome: this is what makes a visit to this site a unique experience.

5 hours - by commuter train or private car & driver

Rome’s first colony, Ostia was established by one of the kings of Rome in the VII century b.C., to control the salt flats and protect Rome. This is what the papers report but the oldest “handwork” dug out dates back to the IV century b.C.: the debate is still open.

Formerly used as a naval base, when Rome controlled the Mediterranean in mid II century b.C., it changed vocation and became an important commercial site. Later a vast and more efficient new port was arranged nearby but Ostia remained a key administrative and warehousing centre to secure more than a million Romans food and other basic goods.

Rome fell. The port was abandoned, silted up. The river changed course and the area became a malaria-infested swamp, nearly forgotten until it was buried by the mud.

Apartment buildings, streets, taverns, shops, fountains, laundries, the firemen station, private and public bathhouses, warehouses, storages, granaries, wealthy houses, temples: evidences of the rise and the fall of Rome and its empire.

This tour lasts five hours (transfers from/to Rome included) but it can be extended an extra hour for a more in depth visit of the excavation area or the visit of the nearby Mediaeval village featuring its imposing papal fortress.