Archaeology handicrafts and science and technology sites to visit Rome

The legend makes the site the place of landing of Dido and its own. Ostia was founded by King Ancus Martius in the th century BC The port is located at the mouth of the Tiber River and owes its name to its latin origin, misled, which means "mouth".

During antiquity, Ostia was the port of Rome. The city, which has been able to reach the 100 000 inhabitants, has peaked in the first century of our era. Travellers and goods travel there, sailors and traders lived there. Ostia, a military port and commercial port, has always followed the evolution of Rome: military conquests and then commercial development. Populated by many foreigners, it was a bit of the Empire that stood there. Ostia fell into the torpor following the decadence of Rome and then the fall of the Roman Empire. Its progressive silting and an unhealthy environment have led its last inhabitants to abandon it.

Ostia site, which is now about 4 km from the coastline, was rediscovered only at the beginning of the th century. It has become Ostia Antica, offering visitors an archaeological treasure, among the best preserved in the ancient world. It allows to discover the life of a great ancient city through the centuries of its existence, from its foundation until the introduction of Christianity into its walls.

To the south of the temple of Cybele are the remains of a primitive village dating back to the Iron Age (9th century BC). It would correspond, according to tradition, to the village founded by Romulus. So this is where the first Romans lived. The remains of the three huts that were discovered here are among the oldest remains of Rome. To preserve them, they are not always open to visitors. However, we have the opportunity to see the remains of it in summer, the time of exceptional openings.