The only tour that combines the charm of discovery with the fun of a day at the beach aboard a legendary FIAT 500.
Starting from the populous district of Testaccio, we will visit the remains of the ancient port of the Emporio, active since Roman times, a landing point for goods that, from the port of Ostia, went up the Tiber on barges.
Here stands a unique archaeological site: the Monte dei Cocci, a landfill used by the Romans to get rid of amphorae used for transporting goods. Thanks to the excavations carried out at the end of the 19th century, it was possible to reconstruct the history of this artificial mountain: the shards were arranged in a precise order to create an enormous pile whose remains are still visible today. Over the centuries, this district was first used as a residential settlement for the workers of the nearby heavy industries and then, starting in the 1980s, converted into a widespread cultural centre. Today Testaccio hosts a University, several museums and a popular music school, as well as numerous night clubs. A short distance from Testaccio, there is a pyramid-shaped funerary monument, erected in 30 BC after Egypt’s annexation to Rome, and still perfectly preserved today.
This historically interesting neighborhood is home to an important example of street art: the work by Blu covers the entire facade of a former barracks between the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls and the Garbatella neighborhood, a former slum now a residential neighborhood.
From here, a wonderful adventure begins: we will discover the entire Lido di Ostia area. A vast green space that reaches all the way to the sea, composed of a pine forest of Roman origins whose history recounts the centuries from Roman times to the present day.
This area also features a hamlet and the castle of Julius II, completed in the late 1400s and used as a customs house for papal Rome to regulate the flow of goods from the nearby port. Not far away, the archaeological area of Ostia Antica, a Roman settlement from the 4th century BC. which reached, in its maximum splendour, 75,000 inhabitants. Today it looks like a magical place, where the remains of the Roman city blend with nature that goes as far as the sea with its dunes, accumulations of sand carried by the wind that favor the development of lush vegetation present all year round.
The last part of the tour will take us to discover the rationalist architecture of EUR, the district built to host the universal exhibition that never took place due to the outbreak of the last world war. This district is also home to other examples of fascist architecture: the square Colosseum, created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the March on Rome and to celebrate urban development towards the sea.
An engaging tour, the only one that manages to combine culture and relaxation in an unforgettable day.