Portus, Archaeological site in Ostia, Italy
Portus is an ancient harbor complex near Rome built around a hexagonal basin that remains visible today as a body of water. The site spreads across open ground and includes foundations of warehouses, canals, and public buildings scattered over a wide area.
The complex was begun in the first century under Emperor Claudius to secure the flow of goods into Rome. Later emperors expanded the harbor and added the hexagonal basin to accommodate larger vessels arriving from across the Mediterranean.
The name Portus comes from the Latin word for harbor and directly describes what this place once did. Visitors today can walk among the foundations of large storage buildings and public structures that once organized daily work and trade.
The site lies near Fiumicino Airport and is easiest to reach by car. The old harbor basin now forms a lake, and visitors walk across open terrain with uneven paths connecting different parts of the ruins.
Byzantine forces in the sixth century took apart the three-story imperial palace and warehouses piece by piece to keep them out of Ostrogoth hands. This deliberate dismantling left only the foundations that visitors see across the site today.
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