Ostia Antica: Really Old, Really Close

RST is pleased to have as guest blogger Martha Bakerjian. Martha is one of our favorite writers on travelling in Italy.  She's knowledgeable and always has good ideas for places to visit and tips for the savvy traveler.  In this post she guides us to Ostia Antica, a magnificent under-visited archaeological site less than an hour by train from Rome. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter!  Martha has her own blog, Martha's Italy: https://www.marthasitaly.com, and she posts itineraries on Bindu.

An ancient greeting.

While most people know about Pompeii, far fewer visit the ancient Roman port of Ostia Antica, even though it's much easier to get to from Rome. At Ostia Antica you are treated to the evocative remains of a Roman working-class town, abandoned around the 5th century. You'll have the added bonus of walking through a medieval hamlet with a small castle, and, if you're there on a Thursday or Sunday morning, you can go inside the castle on a tour.

Tours of the castle--built in 1483 by the man who would become Pope Julius II--on Thursday and Sunday mornings

If you're in Ostia Antica around lunch time, try one of the local trattorias in the hamlet. After your visit to Ostia Antica, you can even go to the beach, just one stop farther along the train line at Ostia Lido. (The trattorias are much better than the snack bar, and more likely to be open; or buy food for picnicking like a Roman on the ancient grounds.)

To get to Ostia Antica, take Metro Line B to the Piramide stop. To use your same Metro ticket, stay inside the station heading left towards the "Roma Porta San Paolo" station, for the Roma-Lido train line.  (If you have more time and don't mind blowing another Metro ticket, or on your way back, go outside for a look at this well-restored 1924 "Roma-Ostia-Lido" train station.) Take the train towards the Lido (the only direction it goes from there), getting off at Ostia Antica. The trains run about every 15 minutes; less often on the weekends and holidays.  (Note all of these directions and info are at the time of this writing.) From the train station, it's a short walk to the hamlet of Ostia and then just a little farther to the archaeological site.

Ornate sarcophagus

Buy a map of the site at the Ostia Antica ticket office to give you a better idea of what you're seeing. Once inside there are restrooms, a book and souvenir shop, picnic area, and a bar selling sandwiches, drinks, and snacks. Also near the entrance is an archaeological museum with statues, busts of Roman emperors and sarcophagi. Off to one side is a small necropolis.

Toilets.  Not much privacy.

Ostia Antica is more compact than Pompeii but still quite large (Dianne: we once lost the son of friends there for about an hour). You’ll see houses, shops, ovens, a bakery, wells, fountains, and even toilets, as well as the town’s forum, temples, a theater, and baths. 

The ancient city, in use from the 4th century BC through the 5th century AD, had about 50,000 residents at its peak. It was Rome's seaport and, as such, of great importance.

Ostia was laid out along one main street, Decumanus Maximus, and more than one mile of the road has been excavated. Along this street you’ll see stores and markets, workshops, public buildings, warehouses, and a theater, built between 19 and 12 BC. Residential areas are along the side streets.

Ostia's splendid theater/arena

Some house remains have mosaic floors or frescoes on the walls. These mosaic designs have been replicated since Roman times to decorate buildings around the world, including the Fascists' extensive use of them, such as in the flooring outside the railroad train station at Ostiense. Farther along is the forum, the center of life in Roman towns. Around the forum are the large public baths, a marketplace, a temple, and a Christian basilica.

Homes and shops

Plan to spend 2 to 3 hours wandering through the ruins. The site is closed on Mondays. Check current hours and admission price (orari + tariffe) on this web site: http://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/it/home. Hours change with the time of year and day; the site generally opens at 8:30 a.m. and closes anywhere from 4:30 - 7 p.m. Ticket prices change as well, based on many factors; the current regular price is Euro 10. (Use your "translate" button in Google, for example, if the Italian doesn't make sense to you.)

More about Ostia Antica: https://www.marthasitaly.com/articles/15/ostia-antica

Another view of the theater.





Renato Papagni and the Centro Olimpico Fijlkam (what?)

"Art" photo, with building framed by yellow fence in foreground. 

RST enjoys an occasional annual pilgrimage to the sea, even if neither of us goes swimming.  This past year we explored and survived the funky, off-the-books seaside hamlet of Idroscalo and ventured onto the "public" part of Ostia's "private" beaches using one of the new "varchi" (entrances).  Ostia is full of modern architectural treasures, many from the Fascist era, and though we've seen most of them, we made it a point to have another look at the Art Deco post office, a real gem.

View from the west, across the parking lot.

And then, scootering along the beach frontage road, we noticed this curious structure, all molded and floggy, if that's a word, looking something like a tilted green doughnut with white icing.  We parked the scooter and--standard operating procedure--began walking around the periphery, gated and locked, hoping for an open door--or something. That something arrived a few minutes later, in the form of a gatehouse and guard.  No, we couldn't go inside.  But yes, the guard was amicable and agreeable to explaining what he knew about the building.

Working entrance (looks fairly normal from this view).

We had found the Centro Olimpico Fijlkam, a training center for Italian athletes in specific sports. Fijlkam is an acronym (a curious one for Italians, we think).  The letters stand for La Federazione Judo Lotta Karate e Art Marziale (that is, Federation for Judo (duh!), Wrestling, Karate, and Martial Arts).  Not all of these, we're quite sure, are Olympic sports, but so be it.  The Federation is an old one, founded in 1902 in Milan; it now has some 3,000 affiliated societies.

Renato Papagni

The donut building is the handiwork of Renato Papagni (b. 1946).  An engineer, not an architect--he earned his degree in structural engineering at the University of Rome--Papagni apparently designed the building, probably his sole commission, and he also seems to have served as project manager for its construction.  All this began in 1986 and the "palazzetto" was opened in 1992.  We think it's a very interesting building in the "plastic" mode popularized by Frank Gehry, though on the clunkier side.  At least it's different.

Papagni (left) with former mayor Gianni Alemanno, with
ribbons--and
one of Papagni's pools

Papagni moved on to swimming and pools, and was involved with the pools intended for the 2009 international swimming competition held in Rome (there was a lot of controversy about pools that
weren't built and others than weren't necessary).  These days he is President of the Assobalneari, Roma, an association of beach club owners. In that job, he had a hand in developing the varchi--the passageways--that in the summer of 2014 made possible public access to a portion (near the water) of Ostia's private beaches.



Centro Olimpico Fijlkam is at via dei Sandolini 79, Ostia.  You can take the train from Rome and get off at the white building, below, lower right.
Bill

From the air, it could be a sombrero.  Quite a complex.  It's a long way around.