Ostia Antica

Ostia Antica is the remarkably preserved ancient harbour city of Rome, lying on the city's southwestern edge near the mouth of the Tiber, and is often described as a quieter, more walkable alternative to Pompeii. Founded as a military colony in the 4th century BC, Ostia grew into a bustling port of perhaps 50,000 people that supplied the capital with grain and goods, then was gradually abandoned and silted over, which helped preserve its streets to an unusual height. Today visitors enter through the necropolis along the Decumanus Maximus, the main paved street, and can wander freely for hours among standing brick warehouses, apartment blocks several storeys high, bathhouses with intricate black-and-white floor mosaics, temples, taverns and shops, getting a vivid sense of ordinary Roman daily life rather than just monumental architecture. Standout sights include the well-preserved Roman theatre, still used for summer performances, which seats around 3,000; the adjacent Square of the Corporations, where mosaic emblems mark the offices of shipping merchants from across the Mediterranean; the Baths of Neptune with their large sea-god mosaics; the Thermopolium, an ancient bar with its marble counter and painted menu still in place; and the Capitolium temple rising over the forum. A thorough visit takes three to four hours over flat but uneven ground, and there is little shade, so water, sun protection and good shoes are needed. The excellent on-site museum displays statues and sarcophagi found here. Mornings on weekdays are the calmest, and the low light of early or late day suits photography of the brickwork and mosaics. Ostia is reached easily from central Rome by a direct train from Porta San Paolo to the Ostia Antica stop, a short walk from the gate. For history lovers it is one of the most absorbing and uncrowded ancient sites in Italy.