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Santa Marinella is a ''
comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' (municipality) in the
Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Metropolitan City of Rome Capital () is an area of local government at the level of metropolitan city in the Lazio region of Italy. It comprises the territory of the city of Rome and 120 other ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in the hinterland of the c ...
, in the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
region of
Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
, located about northwest of
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. It includes the beach resort of Santa Severa (the ancient
Pyrgi Pyrgi (''Pyrgus'' in Etruscan) was originally an ancient Etruscan town and port in Latium, central Italy, to the north-west of Caere. Its location is now occupied by the borough of Santa Severa. It is notable for the discovery here of th ...
), and a medieval castle.


History

In antiquity, Santa Marinella was the site of Punicum, an important
Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things: **Etruscan language ** Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan coins **Etruscan history **Etruscan myt ...
port which served the city of Caere. Punicum was identified in the
Peutinger Table ' (Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tables James Strong and John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature''. NY: Haper and Brothers ...
, in which it is on the Via Aurelia 9km N of
Pyrgi Pyrgi (''Pyrgus'' in Etruscan) was originally an ancient Etruscan town and port in Latium, central Italy, to the north-west of Caere. Its location is now occupied by the borough of Santa Severa. It is notable for the discovery here of th ...
. The area had several scattered settlements in Etruscan times. It was near an easy landing point, protected from the winds and the sea. The name Punicum is probably from the Latin name of the pomegranate (malum punicum) a plant which in ancient times was often used as a topographical reference point (ad punicum). There was a Sanctuary of Minerva overlooking the Punto della Vipera north of S. Marinella, finds from which are in the museum. In the suburbs to the north of Cape Linaro was the Roman town of Castrum Novum of which parts are visible in the sea and others have been recently excavated. About 10km northeast are the remains of the baths of Aquae Caeretanae famous until the 5th century. It became a Roman resort and site of many opulent villas under the Empire.


Ancient monuments


Bridges

Numerous Roman bridges are preserved of the ancient Via Aurelia, the famous road linking Rome, coastal Etruria and Liguria, built from the 3rd century BC based on earlier Etruscan layouts. Of particular interest and monumentality are the Largo Impero Bridge (km 60.4 of the Via Aurelia) with an arch of 15 limestone ashlars and the Via Roma Bridge (km 60.7) with a segmental arch with 19 radial ashlars in limestone and traces of the flanking walls and cement abutments. The Ponte delle Vignacce (km 62.3) also with a single arch in sandstone ashlars is difficult to access today.


Villa of Ulpian

A large and luxurious seaside villa called Ulpiano was built near Castello Odescalchi, equipped with a port and fish farming facilities (peschiere), acquired perhaps at the beginning of the 3rd century AD by the famous jurist
Ulpian Ulpian (; ; 223 or 228) was a Roman jurist born in Tyre in Roman Syria (modern Lebanon). He moved to Rome and rose to become considered one of the great legal authorities of his time. He was one of the five jurists upon whom decisions were to ...
, as shown by lead pipes (fistulae) with the inscription "Cn. Domiti Anni Ulpiani". The remains of the villa were found after numerous irregular excavations starting from 1838. The presence of cryptoporticos, porticoes open towards the sea, baths with rich mosaic decorations and statuary is known, today dispersed in various museums and private collections. Among the discoveries were the mosaic of Orpheus, the statues of
Meleager In Greek mythology, Meleager (, ) was a hero venerated in his '' temenos'' at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Homer. Meleager is also mentioned as o ...
and of Dionysius and Pan, and more recently the statues of Athena Parthenos and Apollo (in the Civitavecchia museum) which evidently decorated the gardens of the villa. Currently, only a few short sections of ''
opus reticulatum ''Opus reticulatum'' (also known as reticulate work) is a facing used for concrete walls in Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture from about the first century BCE to the early first century CE. Facings are a type of polygonal masonry us ...
'' and brickwork of the terracing walls of the villa remain visible at the small port; numerous architectural fragments and some interesting sepulchral inscriptions are preserved in the gardens of Castello Odescalchi and the surrounding villas.


Villa delle Grottacce

At the 58.2 km of the Via Aurelia, close to the sea, lie the remains of the Villa delle Grottacce, one of the numerous maritime villas and identified with the ancient port of Panapione mentioned in many historical sources such as the Itinerarium Maritimum of the Antonine period. The vast estate, equipped with a remarkable system for breeding fish and shellfish (peschiera) and a long pier, today almost completely submerged, was the subject of excavations and research in the last century. Since 1952 some sectors of the monument have been explored and restored by the Archaeological Superintendency for Southern Etruria. Of great interest is the semicircular fishpond, now visible only from an aerial view and at low tide, of which two or three tanks, which have remained intact, are connected to the outside with a series of small rectangular tanks arranged in a ring communicating with each other. A bronze portcullis from this fishpond is now conserved in museum of
Pyrgi Pyrgi (''Pyrgus'' in Etruscan) was originally an ancient Etruscan town and port in Latium, central Italy, to the north-west of Caere. Its location is now occupied by the borough of Santa Severa. It is notable for the discovery here of th ...
. Part of the underground rooms (corridors, warehouses, work areas and cisterns), intended to house the service rooms and part of the production activities are preserved. The ruins of the cryptoporticus and numerous barrel-vaulted rooms are visible, two of which, probable cisterns have two circular surface wells. The walls reveal a complex building history that from the 1st century BC to the 4th century AD. Ceramics recovered during the excavations document inhabitation to the 5th-6th century. In the 1970's 3 shipwrecks were found in the harbour of Panapione below the villa. The whole port area has a very shallow seabed (1.5 - 2.5 m), muddy and covered by a considerable amount of ceramic and wall fragments which testify to the great activity of this port, connected among other things with the villa with adjoining fish pond located on the northern promontory. Of wreck A, the best preserved, numerous strakes of planking joined with the tenon and mortise system and the keelbeam with the mast are visible. The approximate dimensions of the boat are 5 m wide by 15 m long. The finds are deposited in the museum of Pyrgi.Stefano Giorgi, Giuseppe Fort, Le navi ritrovate presso la Villa delle Grottacce. 9 Marzo 2021 https://www.archeomedia.net/santa-marinella-rm-le-navi-ritrovate-presso-la-villa-delle-grottacce/


Climate


Culture

Actress
Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...
and director
Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such a ...
had a villa here. The gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello also have a song titled "Santa Marinella" on their 2005 album '' Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike'' about Eugene Hutz's time in Santa Marinella as he tried to gain immigration to America. The commune is known for its "Wheels of Immigration" - a pretzel-like snack consumed by Russian Jewish immigrants who temporarily settled there in the late 1980s on their way to United States or Israel.


Twin towns - Sister Cities

* Limanu,
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...


See also

*'' Landscape with the Port of Santa Marinella''


References


External links

{{authority control Cities and towns in Lazio Roman sites in Lazio Archaeological sites in Lazio Roman villas in Italy