Dear friends what am I writing about today? It’s hard to find something that would be interesting for you… Well, I’m going to write about a sea site near Rome. It’s called Ostia.
This word is a Latin word that means “mouths” but mouths of a river. Shortly… you know… a River before entering the sea divide itself into two or more channels… Romans called that channels “mouths” of the river… “Ostia”. Clearly the River in this case is the Tiber, the river of Rome. From the republican period (509 b. C. – 31 b. C.) there was a little town by the sea, just where the Tiber entered the sea. The Tiber formed at that time two different channels: the big channel and the little channel this one called in old Italian Fiumicino, that means little river, and near this “little river” there is today the little town called Fiumicino. Instead Ostia was built near the big channel. Ostia was a big city, with theatres, big tombs, and many buildings.
The emperor Claudius ordered to dig an arbour for commercial traffic, then at the beginning of the second century the emperor Traianus built a monumental harbour. Then slowly but inevitably, because of barbaric invasions and the malaria (another Italian word that means “bad air”) the town of Ostia was abandoned but well preserved till now.
Near archaeological zone there is a little castle of the pope Julius II (in Italian Giulio secondo), the pope of Michelangelo and of the Sistine Chapel.
Julius II was nephew (in Italian “nipote”) of the pope Sixtus the forth (that’s why Sistine Chapel) and ad that time (and also at our time) uncles use to support their nephews in everything. At Julius II times, Ostia was a little village, nothing similar to the rich city of Traianus times, just some little houses by the castle of the pope.
The new city of Ostia was built by workers coming from Ravenna (a City of the northern Italy on the Adriatic sea). A lot of those workers died because of malaria at the beginning of the XX century. Now there is a big street called “via dei Ravennati”, the street of the workers of Ravenna, to remember people that built the new town of Ostia.
Nowadays Ostia is a quarter of Rome, but a big one because in the summer live in Ostia more than 300,000 people, less in the winter.
Ostia is 30 Km far from Rome and a lot of Romans witch don’t like to travel faraway spend their summertime in Ostia.
This word is a Latin word that means “mouths” but mouths of a river. Shortly… you know… a River before entering the sea divide itself into two or more channels… Romans called that channels “mouths” of the river… “Ostia”. Clearly the River in this case is the Tiber, the river of Rome. From the republican period (509 b. C. – 31 b. C.) there was a little town by the sea, just where the Tiber entered the sea. The Tiber formed at that time two different channels: the big channel and the little channel this one called in old Italian Fiumicino, that means little river, and near this “little river” there is today the little town called Fiumicino. Instead Ostia was built near the big channel. Ostia was a big city, with theatres, big tombs, and many buildings.
The emperor Claudius ordered to dig an arbour for commercial traffic, then at the beginning of the second century the emperor Traianus built a monumental harbour. Then slowly but inevitably, because of barbaric invasions and the malaria (another Italian word that means “bad air”) the town of Ostia was abandoned but well preserved till now.
Near archaeological zone there is a little castle of the pope Julius II (in Italian Giulio secondo), the pope of Michelangelo and of the Sistine Chapel.
Julius II was nephew (in Italian “nipote”) of the pope Sixtus the forth (that’s why Sistine Chapel) and ad that time (and also at our time) uncles use to support their nephews in everything. At Julius II times, Ostia was a little village, nothing similar to the rich city of Traianus times, just some little houses by the castle of the pope.
The new city of Ostia was built by workers coming from Ravenna (a City of the northern Italy on the Adriatic sea). A lot of those workers died because of malaria at the beginning of the XX century. Now there is a big street called “via dei Ravennati”, the street of the workers of Ravenna, to remember people that built the new town of Ostia.
Nowadays Ostia is a quarter of Rome, but a big one because in the summer live in Ostia more than 300,000 people, less in the winter.
Ostia is 30 Km far from Rome and a lot of Romans witch don’t like to travel faraway spend their summertime in Ostia.
Can I suggest you a little thing? ... If you check my site "HOW TO LEARN ITALIAN"
you can find a new page "Ostia" with pictures about what you can only read in this blog.
Thans for reading.
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