Are you a passenger on a cruise ship? Have you arrived in Civitavecchia and don't want to go to Rome but discover the place where you are?
Perfect. You have so many things to discover.
The first thing is to observe the port from the ship's deck. Do you feel a bit like an emperor? It is thought that this port was built by the emperor Trajan and was functional until the second world war when it suffered under allied bombing.
For nearly 1800 years it worked and it was one of the main ports of the Mediterranean, first for the Romans and then for the Popes and now I will help you to recognize how it was done.
Its history began in 106 when Rome had the problem that the river port on the Tiber was silting up and they needed a modern port. To the north the coast is sandy up to Civitavecchia, which at the time was called Centumcellae (one hundred inlets) due to the rocky coast that offered shelter to the ships. The emperor Trajan was a conqueror, and you can see part of his exploits told in the famous Trajan's Column in Rome, and he commissioned the best architect of the time: Apollodoro da Damasco.
Now you have to concentrate and look ahead: the Roman port had an amphitheater shape with two curved arms that extended towards the sea. In the sea there was a protective breakwater which was a straight line parallel to the coast. A sort of artificial island that had been built with the very rocks of the harbor excavation.
And if you think that Dubai and its palm are modern now you can think again and think that there were no better engineers in the world than the Romans. All the marvels of the buildings had already been tested in Imperial Rome where the emperors had asked the best minds to dare in their designs but to respect nature.
Today probably your ship is anchored just where this island used to be, you should see the modern city right in front of you.
If you now look to your right you will not recognize anything because the breakwater has joined one of the arms and there is no separation. But if you look to your left you will recognize the shape of the ancient arm and therefore of the Roman port.
This breakwater (or pier) ends with a fort which in the Renaissance was used by the popes to send the sick with plague and today it is still called Lazzaretto. But pay attention to the structure of the pier because it is one of the masterpieces of Roman engineering (which perhaps they had inherited from the Etruscans who inhabited this land before them).
If you can't see the base of the pier well, take the zoom of a mobile phone and observe all the arches that are under the decking of the pier. It is as if it were ‘clothes line’: it almost looks like an ancient underground aqueduct.
Yet this technique is intended to maintain the connection between the water of the port and the sea water and this avoided the silting up of the port. It kept the bottom clean and avoided the need for continued maintenance.
But now let's look at the city again because you will notice that it is separated by a wall from the port: the port was a military and commercial area and everything had to be controlled. Even today we talk about duties and taxes and the arrival of a ship involves custom activities.
Meanwhile, the health of the crew was assessed and then the goods had to be immediately disembarked and placed in the warehouses. The warehouses were located where today you can see the fortress, a medieval building built to defend itself against Saracen attacks.
But in the port there were also the barracks that were more or less where today you can admire an imposing Renaissance fort called Forte Michelangelo, because the great Michelangelo who worked on the construction of the male (the tower) also worked there. The Renaissance Fort is much more massive than the ancient Roman Fortress because in the meantime cannons had arrived and the cities were bombed from ships. Leonardo da Vinci also stayed here to study the full extent of Roman engineering.
One last note: part of the port has remained intact, and it is the Roman dock that is still used today by small boats. Paradoxically it is the one that needs less maintenance. Every now and then when cleaning its bottom come Roman objects are found and some columns have been discovered of the temple of the God Neptune that had been built to protect the port and the sailors.
Today the patron saint of sailors is Sta Fermina, a Christian martyr who escaped Diocletian's persecution, and the first chapel to her name is located inside Fort Michelangelo, in Roman foundations.
If you have now relaxed with a bit of history from the top deck, perhaps it is time to go downstairs and ashore to see the greatness of the Romans and to taste some local food.
We give you some advice because in this area of ancient Etruria you can taste exquisite dishes made with local products.
The first thing you ask for is local pasta, in the nearby area of Tolfa and Tarquinia they have returned to cultivate ancient grains and produce a particular pasta with a unique flavor that can also be seasoned with Civitavecchia hanging tomatoes that are kept for months on strings and that contain the taste of the sea and the earth.
You can choose fish (always ask for the ‘paranza’ which is the type of local fish) or ‘Chianina’ beef from open range farms in the state of Tuscany or Lazio.
For the wine we have no doubts: this is the area of Tarquinia DOC, but we also recommend a Cacchione from Nettuno root, one of the few native grapes that comes directly from the Romans.
With the history of the port and these gastronomic delights you have been able to enter the spirit of the place comfortably and with a unique experience. Look for the Roman in you!
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