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  • RICERCA COLLABORATORI

dal 13 agosto, 2012
al 15 agosto, 2012
SI RICERCANO 30 COLLABORATORI PER L'EVENTO DI FERRAGOSTO AD OSTIA

PER INFO CONTATTARE GLI UFFICI DELLA PROLOCO ...

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The Renaissance


THE REINASSENCE


The barbarian invasions and the subsequent epidemics led the inhabitants of Ostia to leave it and find refuge near the cathedrals outside the walls, above all around those of St. Aurea’s, Pianabella and St. Ercolano. The inhabitants, who settled in St. Aurea’s cathedral, formed an agglomerate which changed it back into the first defence of Rome against a possible attack from the sea.


In the IX century, pirate raids on the Italian coasts increased and began to threaten Rome.

To avoid the danger, Pope Gregorian IV (827-844) walled the population and named the new suburb Gregoriopoli.

But the walls weren’t able to protect the Roman coast, where Saracens landed in 846 A.D.; they occupied Ostia, Porto and ravaged Urb Rome.

Three years later, in 849, the Saracen fleet menaced again Latium’s coastline again: Pope Leone IV (847-855) decided to form an alliance with Amalfi, Gaeta and Naples and lined up the fleet at the Tiber delta. The Christians won the battle and the victory, which Raphael represented in the Rooms of the Vatican Museums, thwarted the Saracen invasions: the suburb wasn’t attacked for many centuries.


Thanks to this, an urban centre was raised, where several commercial, port and agricultural activities flourished. This peaceful period ended in 1667, when Federico Barbarossa, allied with Pisa against Pope Alexander III, went ashore, sacked the suburb and the ancient city and deprived it of the marbles utilized to build his cathedral.


Ever since, popes, emperors and their respective allies considered Ostia a fundamental stage to acquire the power of Rome.
In 1253, Brancaleone Andalò wanted the suburb to be under the jurisdiction of Rome.
Only the going ashore of the king of England Richard the Lion Heart who was heading for Holy Land to battle in the third Crusade in 1190) prevented tragic effects. In 1267, the troops of Richard Annibal,who formed an alliance with Manfredi, the king of Sicily, who had already campaigned with Urban IV, occupied the suburb again, while in 1327 the inhabitants of Genoa, allied with Robert of Ange and the Pope exiled to Avignon, set fire to Ostia which was allied with the emperor.

One year later Robert of Ange ravaged it. In 1408 and in 1413 the king of Naples, Ladislao - who was allied with the king of France, was in dispute with Paolo Orsini, who was ruling Rome at that time.

To avoid other attacks, Pope Martino V (1417-1431) rebuilt the Boacciana Tower - already used as a citadel in IX century - on the left bank of the Tiber, and decided to build another one for the Gregoriopoli suburb; later, the castle wanted by the bishop of Ostia and the French cardinal William of Estouville (1461-1483) was built. Although the suburb was attacked and sacked many times, it developed a flourishing economy: for this reason the cardinal decided to redecorate the existing buildings and the building of the castle was entrusted to the famous architect Baccio Pontelli.
When William of Esteouville died, his successor, cardinal Della Rovere, Pope Julius II, to be continued the works.
The castle had an important role during the cardinal’s struggle for power with his bitter enemy, Pope Alexander VI Borgia (1492-1503). In the end the Pope, with the help of the doge of Venice and the king of Spain, won the fortress and exiled the cardinal to France. When Alexander VI died, the competition continued between his son Caesar and the very Cardinal Della Rovere, now Pope, but Caesar was defeated and imprisoned in the fortress of Ostia.

In 1556, Ostia suffered the last invasion: The Duke of Alba’s troops defeated Cardinal Carafa’s militia, which retreated in the castle.
All these invasions and battles were followed by a natural catastrophe: on the 14th September 1557, after heavy rainfall, the Tiber overfl owed, subsided and changed its course, moving about one kilometre away from Ostia. The suburb and its castle lost their defensive purpose, causing the end of economic activities. For this reason, Pope Pius IV (1559-1565) was required to transfer navigation to the Boacciana Tower, whose function was replaced by the St. Michael Tower, built by Pius V (1566-1572) later on.
The conditions of the Ostia’s countryside, which became a wetland skirted by the freshwater of the dead river, caused a flight of its inhabitants.
To resolve the problem, in 1593 the first ideas about a land reclamation were thought up, but nothing was done for two centuries.

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