traveldk.com

You enter the park by way of the ancient Via Ostiensis. The white marble goddess on the left marks the beginning of city’s main street, the Decumanus Maximus.

The original theatre was twice as tall as it now stands. Behind the stage was a temple, of either Ceres (goddess of grain) or Dionysus (god of theatre). Around the square, mosaics advertise various import businesses: grain, wild animals, ivory and shipping.

You can climb up to the top of this insula (apartment block) for a great view. Across the street is the Thermopolium, a tavern with a wall-painting of menu items.

Beautifully organized, the displays include precious sculptures, sarcophagi and mosaics found among the ruins. One of the highlights is a marble statue of the god Mithras about to sacrifice the Cosmic Bull.

The rectangular heart of officialdom was originally surrounded by columns. In the centre was a shrine to the Imperial Lares (household gods).

Dominating the city was the monumental temple to the Capitoline Triad – Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Climb the staircase to examine the threshold stone of rare Lucullan marble.

This elaborate bath complex contains a painting of Venus, floor mosaics of hunters and animals and nude athletes and marine scenes.

The wealthy had villas like this refined example of a 3rd-century AD domus . You can still admire the Doric columns, the fountain (nymphaeum ) and the inlaid marble decorations.

Built in the 2nd century, this bath complex was enhanced with fine mosaics of sea-gods and sea-monsters, which you can view from a small terrace. You can also go down along to the left to study close-up the baths’s ingenious heating system.

This was one of 18 Ostian temples to Mithras. The cult was very popular with Roman soldiers, and flourished especially well in port towns. The frescoes of snakes invoked the earth’s fertility, while the platforms were for lying on during mystic banquets.