Page 93 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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ART AND CULTURE

Fourth-century mosaics at the Museo Nazionale Romano
Sarcophagus of a married couple at the Etruscan Museum
Museo Nazionale
Etruscan Museum, Romano The Decumanus Maximus road at Ostia Antica

Villa Giulia Ostia Antica

If your experience of classical art is rows of
In the middle of Rome, there’s a park with a lake, anonymous and noseless marble busts, headless Although Ostia Antica is outside Rome, you can
a zoo, several Roman ruins, countless fountains, torsos, and incomprehensible labels, the Museo ride the metro to the ruined city and be sitting in
and two of the world’s finest museums – the Nazionale Romano will make a refreshing change the theater in the time it takes to wait in line for
Galleria Borghese and, in the Villa Giulia, the and reveal the vitality of so much Classical sculpture. the Vatican Museums. Ostia Antica was Rome’s
Etruscan Museum. There’s the proud Seleucid prince, more confident port for 600 years and, after Herculaneum and
When the Romans were still scrabbling around in his bronze nakedness than the rest of us could Pompeii, it’s the best-preserved Roman town in
in the mud up on their seven hills, their neighbors ever feel fully clothed, and a disconcerting bust of Italy. You walk in on the Decumanus Maximus,
to the north, the Etruscans, were already building Julius Caesar with his toga pulled over his head. Best passing the warehouses, the baths (posh and not
aqueducts, paving roads, and decorating their of all is the famous Olympian, every sinew tensely so posh), and the pub on the way to the theater.
exquisite temples with Asian-style Medusas. Though balanced as he prepares to unleash his discus. All these sites can be readily recognized without a
their art was archaic and occasionally inscrutable, Upstairs, you’ll get a tingle of excitement degree in archaeology. Most impressive of all is the
the laughing eyes of the Apollo of Veii or the easy when the guide unlocks a double door and takes Forum of the Corporations, where 61 maritime
affection between the Bride and Groom in the you to the gallery on the top floor. Entire rooms offices are ranged around a great temple, each
2,500-year-old funerary sculpture evoke more from the Villa of Livia on the Palatine Hill have identified by its own descriptive mosaic. Farther
genuine warmth than a thousand Roman statues. been faithfully reconstructed. The mosaics and into the city are more signs of how rich and poor
There are also distinctly unsettling works, like the frescos have been so vividly realized, it’s as if the rubbed along together. There’s the meat market,
frieze depicting Tydeus gorging himself on the artist has only just finished work. the latrines, and a whole host of temples, including
brains of his rather shocked archenemy Melanippus. The collection in the Palazzo Massimo is the the 2nd-century remains of the city’s synagogue.
The very best works in this former papal villa best part of Rome’s Museo Nazionale Romano, If you can afford the time, take a cruise out to
are also the tiniest. The Etruscans were fabulous but your ticket will also get you into the nearby Ostia from the Marconi Bridge in Rome. If not, at
goldsmiths, and some of the jewelry from the Baths of Diocletian, which includes the Aula least try to hang on until dusk, when the sun
Castellani collection is amazing. There’s nothing Ottagona with its two bronze sculptures of great glances off the sea and bathes the umbrella pines
in the shops on the swank Via dei Condotti that beauty. Both museums are near Rome’s Termini and ancient buildings in a glorious warm glow.
can match this stuff. station, and would definitely top any list of good
ways to kill time before your train.
Practical Information
Practical Information Address Viale dei Romagnoli 717, Ostia Antica; tel. +39 06 5635 8099;
Address Piazzale di Villa Giulia 9; tel. +39 06 320 1951; Practical Information www.ostia-antica.org/visiting.htm
www.romaturismo.com Address Palazzo Massimo, Largo di Villa Peretti 1; tel. +39 06 328101; Getting There Take metro Line B to Piramide or EUR Magliana, then get
Getting There The Villa Giulia is at the northern end of the Parco Villa www.romaturismo.com the Ostia Lido train to Ostia Antica. You could also take a Battelli di Roma
Borghese, a pleasant 15-minute walk from the Flaminio metro stop, on Getting There The museum is 5 minutes’ walk from Rome’s principal train boat (www.battellidiroma.it) from the Marconi Bridge.
Line A. Alternatively, take the 19 or 3 tram. station, Termini. It’s also very close to the Repubblica metro stop, on Line A. Opening Times 8:30am–6pm Tue–Sat; 8:30am–noon Sun (8:30am–5pm
Opening Times 8:30am–7:30pm Tue–Sun. Opening Times 9am–7:45pm Tue–Sun. Mar and Oct; 8:30am–4pm Nov–Feb).

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