The ancient Roman city of Ostia was in antiquity situated at the mouth of the river Tiber, some 30 kilometres to the west of Rome. The shoreline moved seawards, due to silting, from the Middle Ages until the 19th century. Therefore Ostia is today still lying next to the Tiber, but at a distance of some three kilometers from the beach. Ostia is Latin for “mouth”, the mouth of the Tiber. The river was used as harbour, but in the Imperial period two harbour basins were added to the north, near Leonardo da Vinci airport. The harbour district was called Portus, Latin for “harbour”.
from Ostia an Introduction www.ostia.org
itinerario 1 will take us to to ostia antica shortly after our arrival at the airport in rome on wednesday 15 july 09. please read the links below in advance of our visit. ostia antica is among the best preserved, and certainly the most complete, roman town (far more so than pompeii or herculaneum) extant. aside from its antiquity and its splendid buildings (the theatre, the forum + especially the apartment blocks), its significance for us lies in the genesis of its urban plan in the orthogonal organization of the roman military encampment.
2 Comments so far
Leave a comment
I think the site was fantastic and had some really intense character. The “ruin” condition and overall use of those spaces now compared to the city it once was is also very interesting.
Comment by ard7 15 July 2009 @ 12:53you can understand what inspired louis kahn when he came to rome in the early 50s – and what led him away from what had become an orthodox and insubstantial modernism, works that would yield ‘poor ruins’ in his view. he found a new language – and a resonant poetic – in those bared bricks.
Comment by jamesdart 20 July 2009 @ 21:45