Where in the World is Sandra Scott? OSTIA ANTICA, ITALY
A place near Rome is the best example of what an ancient Roman city looked like
A typical street in Ostia Antica. Visitors can walk the cobbled road lined by rows of trees and remains of historical buildings and shops.
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here are so many great places to visit in Italy, it is impossible to see everything. During the summer Rome is crowded with tourists and the city can be blistering hot so a good option is to do what the Italians do — go to the beach. Ostia, or more correctly, Lido di Ostia, is technically a neighborhood of Rome but it is about 20 miles from the center of Rome. There are two reasons to visit Ostia. One is to get away from the heat and to enjoy the long beach on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The other reason
is to explore a major archeological site known at Ostia Antica a short distance away. Lesser known compared to Pompeii, Ostia Antica is less crowded than Pompeii and just as interesting. Ostia Antica was an ancient seaport that dates back to 620 BC. It was once a port at the mouth of the Tiber River and on the Tyrrhenian Sea at a time when the Romans controlled the Mediterranean Sea. It was a bustling international shipping port. The salt from the nearby
24 OSWEGO COUNTY BUSINESS FEBRUARY / MARCH 2023
salt flats was just one of the important items as it was needed to preserve meat. Ostia Antica was visited by people from all over the world. The city flourished and had a population of about 100,000 at its height. Even though a fort was built to protect the city from repeated invasions and sackings by pirates along with the fall of Rome Empire, Ostia Antica faced decline and was finally abandoned in the 9th century. Over the years the harbor silted up, which in retrospect was
