Ostia Antica and Cerveteri
Trip Start
Jan 25, 2010
1
14
47
Trip End
Apr 24, 2010
Ostia Antica, Lazio, Italy
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The bus ride took almost two hours and we finally got there. It is right outside of Rome, which takes an hour train ride…so we aren’t exactly sure what our bus driver was doing. We finally got off the bus and it was raining, as usual. Ostia Antica is an abandoned city that used to be a port that sat on the edge of the Tevere (Tiber River) but over time the river has been pushed back. When we first got there, we walked through the necropolis, which is where they buried their dead. The dead were cremated and the ashes were put in urns. In the burial tombs they would cut out small arches in the walls and there they would place the urn. They buried their dead outside of the city walls to prevent disease spreading but also because they were extremely religious and had bad visions of the afterlife. We then walked into the city walls where they had thermal baths, gymnasiums, markets, cafes, and everything you can imagine a town would have. The buildings were multiple stories, which is unbelievable.
The Etruscans were extremely advanced and it was amazing to see all of the things they could build. They had two story buildings, in the cafes they had a method for washing dishes, they had menus with pictures of the food. The Etruscans lived a very cultured life. We also went to their theater and walked up the seats to get a view from the top. We walked through the rest of the town and then made our way back to the bus to head to Cerveteri. When we arrived at Cerveteri, another Etruscan gravesite, it was pouring down rain so our trip was short. It looked like a little village of huts but they were all graves that you walked underground to get into. We walked through a few of the tombs but many of them were flooded. Of course, we can’t go anywhere without causing a ruckus so one of my friends got up on the tomb and crossed her arms like she was a mummy to take a picture. The bottom of the tomb had flooded and as she was getting off she slipped and fell creating a tidal wave of mud and splashed everyone. Everyone looked like they had had an "accident". We got to look through a window at the nicest tomb they uncovered while excavating. Their tombs had pillows cut out of stone like a bed and had murals painted on the walls. We had enough of the rain and headed back to Ariccia. We were all exhausted but excited for Pompei Thursday!
Comments
Ostia Antica is no Etruscan site, Cerveteri is; Ostia is just Roman (founded by the Romans)