Ostia is a large neighbourhood in the XIII Municipio of the comune of Rome, Italy. Ostia (also called Ostia Lido or Lido di Roma or Lido di Ostia) is also the only municipio or district of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea and many Romans spend the summer holidays there. Sometimes it is confused with Ostia Antica, an archaeological area, that is nearby. Ostia counts about 90,000 inhabitants.
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History
The neighbourhood was founded in 1884, after the reclaiming of the nearby marshland (the pond of Ostia), which was infested by Malaria. The first inhabitants were peasants coming from Ravenna, in Romagna. Thanks to the opening of the urban Roma-Ostia railway in 1924, the new village became soon the favourite sea resort of the Romans, while many Art Nouveau houses were built on the waterfront.
The new village was connected to central Rome through the new Via Ostiense, which was opened in 1907. During the Fascist period, the government expanded massively the neighbourhood, which got its ultimate architectural character thanks to many new buildings in Stile Littorio and Rationalism. New infrastructures, like a second road to Rome (the Via del Mare), the promenade and a water airport were also built during this period.
After World War II, many bathing establishments were built on the sea side, and Ostia experienced a tourist boom. The new Cristoforo Colombo avenue connected Ostia with the EUR district in Rome. However, the sea pollution which became apparent during the 70's lowered the popularity of Ostia as sea resort.
The building of the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino in 1956 made Ostia an attractive district for airport and airline workers.
Italian intellectual, film director and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini was assassinated near the water airport (water aerodrome) on 2nd of November, 1975.
In 1976 Ostia became part of the XIII Municipio of the Comune of Rome.
Nowadays, due to the expansion of the city, only the Park of Castelfusano separates Ostia from the other quarters of Rome.
Transportation
The regional Rome-Lido railway line, which carries over 90,000 passengers a day connects Rome to Ostia providing up to 12 rides per hour during rush-hour. The full length of the line is 28.359 km, has 13 stops and the total trip is approx. 37 minutes long.
Notes and references
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008) |
- Lorenzatti Sandro, Ostia. Storia Ambiente Itinerari Roma 2007 (Rome:Genius Loci)
External links
Media related to Ostia at Wikimedia Commons- Ostia Online
- Site of the Centro Studi Storici Ambientali Ostia and of Genius Loci Publisher (Italian)
- Le Date della storia di Ostia (Italian)
- Met.Ro. Metropolitana di Roma (English)
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