The port
During the Roman era, the maritime harbour of Rome was Ostia. From there, the wares destined to the town were transported up the Tiber, along which several docks, with specific functions, were placed.
The general river emporium rose on the left bank of the river, starting from the present Rione Testaccio - where remains of the Porticus Aemilia and of the emporium are still visible - up to the slopes of the Aventine Hill, that for this reason was intensely populated during the Imperial era.
The port area never completely stopped its activity even in the last years of the Empire and during the Middle Ages, serving as a landing place both for pilgrims and wares. It therefore went on housing both structures for craftmanship (carpentry, boathouse, service buildings and so on) and military structures for the control of river traffic and fiscal collection.
The river port of Ripa Grande, that was the main dock on the Tiber, though much less monumental than the Port of Ripetta, was rebuilt in the 17th century opposite to the former Emporium, on the other bank of the Tiber and just a few upstream than the previous location, within Porta Portuense (that had been withdrawn as well).
The arsenal
Factories for the building of military ships had existed around the Port of Ripa Grande until the 16th century, due to the wars against the Ottoman empire. After the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, harbour activities acquired a more commercial character (i.e. ships maintenance and equipment, customs activities and alike).
Just outside Porta Portese, Pope Clement XI built the new papal arsenal, intended for the maintenance of the river boats, as well as the commercial papal ships. Its position just outside the excise city wall can be explained with the purpose to reduce the fiscal pressure on the materials used in maintenance activities.
The building, whose architect is unknown, was conceived as analogous to the arsenal of Civitavecchia, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and completed by Domenico Fontana fifty years before; it was erected between 1714 and 1715, on a smaller scale than the former one, due to its more limited functions.
The structure went on working until the end of the 19th century [1] when, after the building of the muraglioni (massive walls), all river-connected activities were given up. The two ramps, going down to the river under the complex of San Michele, became the only memory of the port.
Arsenal activities were connected to a network of services, like customs offices and barracks, as well of handicraft specialized productions (ropes, carpentry etc.), whose only present trace is the name of a trattoria close to the gate.
The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing 406 kilometres (252 mi) through Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio, where it is joined by the river Aniene, to the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Ostia and Fiumicino. It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 square kilometres (6,709 sq mi). The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of Rome, which was founded on its eastern banks.
Trastevere is the 13th rione of Rome: it is identified by the initials R. XIII and it is located within the Municipio I. Its name comes from the Latin trans Tiberim, meaning literally "beyond the Tiber".
Sant'Angelo is the 11th rione of Rome, Italy, located in Municipio I. Often written as rione XI - Sant'Angelo, it has a coat of arms with an angel on a red background, holding a palm branch in its left hand. In another version, the angel holds a sword in its right hand and a scale in its left.
Ripa is the 12th rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. XII, and it is located in the Municipio I.
Testaccio is the 20th rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. XX, deriving its name from Monte Testaccio. It is located within the Municipio I.
Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome. Sited on the north bank of the north mouth of the Tiber, on the Tyrrhenian coast, it was established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia.
Palazzo Borghese is a palace in Rome, Italy, the main seat of the Borghese family. It was nicknamed il Cembalo due to its unusual trapezoidal groundplan; its narrowest facade faces the River Tiber. The entrance at the opposite end of the building, the "keyboard" of the cembalo, faces onto the Fontanella di Borghese, with another in a great flanking facade to the Piazza Borghese that is extended by a slightly angled facade leading down Via Borghese towards the river. Both these entrances lead into a large courtyard on one side of which is a two level open arcade, with paired Doric and Ionic columns, that frames the garden beyond.
Porta Portese is an ancient city gate, located at the end of Via Portuense, where it meets Via Porta Portese, about a block from the banks of the Tiber in the southern edge of the Rione Trastevere of Rome, Italy.
Ponte Sublicio, also known as Ponte Aventino or Ponte Marmoreo, is a bridge linking Piazza dell'Emporio to Piazza di Porta Portese in Rome (Italy), in the Rioni Ripa, Trastevere and Testaccio and in the Quartiere Portuense.
During the Middle Ages, Rome was divided into a number of administrative regions, usually numbering between twelve and fourteen, which changed over time.
The Porto di Ripetta was a port in the city of Rome. It was situated on the banks of the River Tiber and was designed and built in 1704 by the Italian Baroque architect Alessandro Specchi. Located in front of the church of San Girolamo degli Schiavoni, its low walls with steps descended in sweeping scenographic curves from the street to the river. The port no longer exists but is known from engraved views, drawings and early photographs.
The Papal Navy was the maritime force of the Papal States. Loosely construed, it was in sporadic existence from approximately the Battle of Ostia (849) during the pontificate of Leo IV until the ascension of Pope Leo XIII in 1878.
The Ospizio di San Michele a Ripa Grande or Ospizio Apostolico di San Michele in Rome is represented today by a series of buildings in the south end of the Rione Trastevere, facing the Tiber River and extending from the bank of Ponte Sublicio for nearly 500 meters. It stands across the river from the Rione Ripa and the area known as the Porto di Ripetta, once in the Aventine neighborhood of Rome. The Porto di Ripa Grande was the river port that served those coming up from the Mediterranean port of Ostia. This area was once a main port of Rome. While large seafaring ships could not forge easily up the Tiber river to Rome; smaller boats frequently brought supplies from the coast to the city and offloaded at the Porta.
Lungotevere is an alley or boulevard running along the river Tiber within the city of Rome. The building of the Lungoteveres required the demolition of the former edifices along the river banks and the construction of retaining walls called muraglioni.
The Janiculum walls are a stretch of defensive walls erected in 1643 by Pope Urban VIII as a completion of the Leonine wall and for a better protection of the area of Rome rising on the right bank of the Tiber.
Porticus Aemilia was a portico in ancient Rome. It was one of the largest commercial structures of its time and functioned as a storehouse and distribution center for goods entering the city via the Tiber river.
The Emporium was the river port of the ancient Rome, that rose approximately between the Aventine Hill and the Rione Testaccio.
Santa Maria dell'Orto is a Roman Catholic church in the Rione of Trastevere in Rome (Italy). It is the national church of Japan in Rome.
Lungotevere Ripa is the stretch of Lungotevere that links Ponte Palatino to the Port of Ripa Grande in Rome (Italy), in the Rione Trastevere.
Lungotevere Portuense is the stretch of Lungotevere that links Ponte Sublicio to Ponte Testaccio in Rome (Italy), in the Portuense Quarter.
