Italy - Scavi Archeologici di Ostia Antica

Since my sister and I weren't traveling south to Pompeii or Herculaneum we decided to visit the old port city of Ostia.  Click to enlarge the photos for reading.

The Necropolis is the first ruins you come to once entering the Ostica Antica grounds.  This is because ancient Romans buried their dead outside the city walls. 

Once inside the city walls there were stables for horses and warehouses for the goods shipped to the port.



 



The main street leading into Ostia is called the Decumanus Maximus.  You definitely had to watch your footing here.









Here's the steps leading up to a view of the Baths of Neptune.

Bathhouse floor



The row of umbrella pines in the background follow the original channel of the Tiber River before it changed course.

Saw quick glimpses of these reptiles as we roamed the grounds.

Stairs leading to the upper area of the Theater - where the women sat.

Ramp leading down to the bottom of the seating - where the men sat.

 

Sitting on the rows of seats you could see a temple surrounded by a commercial square.

The three rows of marble steps near the orchestra were reserved for the upper class.

The Square of the Guilds surrounded the temple.  These were small shops housing offices of ship owners and traders lined the square.

Stores had signs on the walkway to designate what type of business occupied it.

There were 60 shops.

Some were basically just pictures because people from many lands entered this port city.

This alter is a duplicate of the original that was used to sacrifice animals.  The entrails could be read to see if the gods were likely to bless a persons venture.

This street was the site of high-density housing that was built in the 2nd century.  Space in the center of the city was at a premium.  Each building had up to ten stories of rooms arranged around a central staircase. 

 

Before climbing the stairs to the apartments, we went to the tavern across the street.

The bar even had a little courtyard with a fountain.

From the top floor of the apartment, we could see quite a ways.

From here we could see the Forum - ancient Ostia's main square. 

Modern museum that we will visit later.

We wondered around and saw this mosaic on an interior wall.

We didn't have any information about these rings in the ground.

Inside the museum were some of the finer, more complete statues that were found in the old town.

Another mosaic we saw as we exited the grounds.