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To Ostia Antica.
I had scores of visitors in the past week or so and in an attempt at keeping them amused, we took a lot to visit Ostia Antica.
The nice thing about that excavation site is that you can come several times and still end-up seeing different things each time. Since it was my third time there, I had not expected to take many pictures. I came back with 148...
Ostia used to be the port of Rome, set at the mouth of the Tiber. Created in the 7th Century BC, it came to suffer from the forming of sand banks in the river. Although the peak of its population was in the 3rd Century AD, it was slowly abandoned, falling into disorder and chaos by the late 4th Century.
Imagine. From this point - Porta Marina - onwards was the sea:
It now lies a good three kilometres away...
In view of feeding the masses, the city had plenty of snack bars - Thermopolium - and urns embedded in the soil to store the wine and oil from the heat.
And plenty of public toilets, where people were accustomed to discuss their affairs (and bowel movements):
Loads of public baths too (to clean the sailors as well as the rich inhabitants):
(Neptune)
(Porta Marina)
(forum)
Because of the vast mixed population, there were also a lot of temples and this time I saw two dedicated to Mithra:
As well as the house of Amore and Psyche:
The statue is a reproduction - the original being in the Museum - which I circled nevertheless, in my customary manner...
In the spring time, the Judea trees are in bloom:
The fig trees aren't and are pushing up ridiculously tiny fruits and a few shoots:
And the corbezzolo at the Caserma dei Vigili is showing a few under-aged fruits:
And French kids on holiday play in the ruins at the forum...
While lonesome bits of statues are looking for a match...
Next visit: I love Bomarzo in the spring
I had scores of visitors in the past week or so and in an attempt at keeping them amused, we took a lot to visit Ostia Antica.
The nice thing about that excavation site is that you can come several times and still end-up seeing different things each time. Since it was my third time there, I had not expected to take many pictures. I came back with 148...
Ostia used to be the port of Rome, set at the mouth of the Tiber. Created in the 7th Century BC, it came to suffer from the forming of sand banks in the river. Although the peak of its population was in the 3rd Century AD, it was slowly abandoned, falling into disorder and chaos by the late 4th Century.
Imagine. From this point - Porta Marina - onwards was the sea:
It now lies a good three kilometres away...
In view of feeding the masses, the city had plenty of snack bars - Thermopolium - and urns embedded in the soil to store the wine and oil from the heat.
And plenty of public toilets, where people were accustomed to discuss their affairs (and bowel movements):
Loads of public baths too (to clean the sailors as well as the rich inhabitants):
(Neptune)
(Porta Marina)
(forum)
Because of the vast mixed population, there were also a lot of temples and this time I saw two dedicated to Mithra:
As well as the house of Amore and Psyche:
The statue is a reproduction - the original being in the Museum - which I circled nevertheless, in my customary manner...
In the spring time, the Judea trees are in bloom:
The fig trees aren't and are pushing up ridiculously tiny fruits and a few shoots:
And the corbezzolo at the Caserma dei Vigili is showing a few under-aged fruits:
And French kids on holiday play in the ruins at the forum...
While lonesome bits of statues are looking for a match...
Next visit: I love Bomarzo in the spring
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