Ostia Antica - Necropolis Banditaccia - Castello Santa Severa - Castello Orsini-Odescalchi

Route: Rome - Ostia Antica - Necropolis Banditaccia - Castello Santa Severa - Castello Orsini-Odescalchi - Rome
Duration: 9 h
Our first stop we will make at the harbour city of ancient Rome, Ostia Antica is now a vast archeological site, located near the city of Rome. Ostia Antica became Rome’s main seaport during the Roman Republic (509 BC – 27 BC) and the city was largely improved by Julius Caesar and Tiberus, during part of the Roman Empire. The city is relatively well preserved, but not as well as Pompeii or Herculaneum, where the cities were completely buried under volcanic ash and mud.  Ostia’s main arterial street, called Decumanus Maximus in Roman cities, cuts through the whole city, while the arcades on both sides of the street show the houses and shops which once thrived here. There are also taverns, inns, shops, public baths and a large reconstructed theatre, which is still used during the summer. Also there you will see the  Jewish synagogue, a Christian Basilica and the 18 temples dedicated to the Persian god Mithra. Next we will visit to the Etruscan Necropolis of Banditaccia is located in top of a hill north to Cerveteri and it is beyond doubt one of the most interesting archeological sites to visit which is in the list of UNESCO World Heritage. The Necropolis which is absolutely the most extended ancient necropolis of the whole Mediterranean area, expands of tombs the oldest dating back to the Villanovan culture (ninth century BC) and the most recent to the Etruscan period (third century BC. The feeling in the air walking within the Necropolis of Banditaccia is simply unique! It is a great and well preserved site, inside which you will really feel like you can go back in time and live again the life of this misterious as well as fascinating civilisation.  Among the most suggestive tombs, there is the Tomb of Reliefs (4th century BC), which you can observe through a protective glass.  The inscriptions found inside prove that the tomb belonged to the Matunas family, who embellished it with extraordinary decorations and reliefs in stucco, representing objects of everyday use and demon images. Steeped in greenery, you will also find the Tomb of the Greek Vases, the tomb of the  Capitals, with a tiny entry corridor and two small rooms on both sides, the Tomb of the Well, the Mengarelli Tumulus and Maroi Tumulus and more. Next we will visit to the Santa Severa’s Castle located along the Tyrrhenian coast and is a heritage of inestimable value both historical and cultural. The Castle owes its current name to the young Christian martyr Severa, who was killed on June 5, 298 AD in this place, together with his brothers Calendino and Marco. The Early Christian Church was dedicated to her, dating back to the second half of the V century or the early decades of the VI century, found in the modern era and currently visible, in part, in the Piazza della Rocca. The first written documentation of the castle dates back to 1068, when Gerardo di Galeria – a Count of Norman origin – donated the Castle and the Church to the Abbey of Farfa that in 1130, under Pope Anacletus II, gave it to the confreres of St. Paul. In 1482 Pope Sixtus IV donated it to the Order of the Holy Spirit, who owned it for five hundred years, until 1980. Next we will visit to the Odescalchi castle on the shores of Lake Bracciano is one of the most beautiful Renaissance residences in Europe. The Castello Orsini-Odescalchi di Bracciano it is a structure that could be defined as a palimpsest of history and architecture, a sort of living organism referring to its many transformations, adaptations, restorations and expansions. First, the construction of the Rocca Vecchia that is the fulcrum late medieval of the castle built by prefects of Vico, who administered a good part of the Tuscia between Rome and Viterbo, around the 1200. Second, after the transition from Vico to Orsini you witness the expansion and total transformation of the castle desired by Napoleon and his son Gentil Virginio Orsini between 1470 e 1496. This is the moment when probably first Giovannino de Dolci -the architect of the Sistine Chapel-, then Francesco di Giorgio Martini e Antoniazzo Romano and maybe Andrea Bregno e Giovanni Dalmata respectively they build, fortify and decorate the building. But Bracciano seems to become more and more the symbol of a growing military power. The third phase of commission concerns the transformation from fortress to noble palace desired by Paolo Giordano Orsini at the moment when Bracciano becomes a duchy in 1560. With alternating phases, Paolo Giordano calls the architects Giacomo del Duca e Nanni di Baccio Bigio and the painters Taddeo and Federico Zuccari they painted some of their most precious works in this castle. After we return to Rome.
Price: per person