You will have read our blog about the Museum of Roman Ships in Fiumicino, but there is another extraordinary archaeological site close to the ancient port of Ostia that many don’t know about. Want to know more? Then read on and watch our video below!
Much is written about the catacombs outside the city of Rome, but 30 km south-west of the city, an incredible discovery was made in the mid 1920’s on the manmade island of Isola Sacra: the Necropolis of Portus.
Situated between the ancient cities of Portus and Ostia, this piece of land was transformed into an island by the ancient Romans, who dug an artificial canal that connected the Tiber River to the sea.
The canal is called “Fiumicino”, which in Italian means small river and gives the name also to the town nearby and the airport of Rome.
The necropolis of Isola Sacra is one of the best preserved in the world, and it hosts sepultures and cremations of the inhabitants of the nearby city of Portus, one of the most important harbours of the Mediterranean during the Roman age.
The Discovery
In 1699, the Cardinal of Bouillon, Cardinal-Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina, conducted the first archaeological excavation on this island, uncovering a large tomb with inscriptions indicating it belonged to the gens Caesennia, an ancient Etruscan family.
Although 20th-century archaeologists later brought the site back to life, it was the Cardinal’s initial excavations that marked the first discovery of this historically significant location and it wasn’t until when further excavations were carried out close to the Basilica of Saint Hippolytus by Edoardo Gatti and later Guido Calza, we would realize what an immense treasure-trove of knowledge of history we had on our doorstep!
The works of Guido Calza during the 1920s and 30s brought the site to the world’s attention and in 1940, he published a book about his excavations, La Necropoli del Porto di Roma nell’Isola Sacra.
Since then over the following decades, archaeologists have uncovered a remarkable collection of around 2,000 skeletons from the Classical period, making it one of the most notable of its kind from the region.
The tombs
Tombs 1-100 are well preserved, due to having lain beneath sand dunes for so many centuries while tombs 101-143 are now on private land which were in such bad condition so they were filled back in.
Thanks to the Latin funerary inscriptions that we find in this incredible site, the mosaics floors, paintings, and stuccos, we can follow the lives of those who were buried there such as tradesmen, midwives doctors, sailors, and blacksmiths.
Again from inscriptions, we know it was in use between the 1st and 4th centuries, it was often the burial ground of the poor but we can also find evidence of the bourgeoisie, who were middle-class business owners and merchants.
It’s fascinating to see the transition from paganism to early Christianity and the necropolis is composed of a wide variety of burial structures, ranging from simple tombs in the sand (“Tombe dei Poveri”) to more majestic buildings, shaped like temples of homes.
Many tombs have still not been excavated so it is an emotional and haunting moment as we walk around this site knowing that many bodies of the ancients are still resting beneath our feet. Imagine what stories they could tell us!
