Necropoli Ostiense (Sepolcreto Ostiense)

Between the Rupe di San Paolo and the bend of the Tiber was a vast burial ground, identified as the first area of worship, whose tombs were located along the Via Ostiense. The site led to the subsequent construction of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which owes its origin precisely to the deposition of the apostle Paul in the necropolis.

Today, the burial ground is of great importance also because it bears witness to the gradual transition from the rite of incineration to that of inhumation, which took place between the 2nd and 3rd century AD. The burial ground, which covers a chronological span between the 2nd century BC and the 4th AD, is spread over three main levels: in the imperial age, brick tombs and a columbarium overlapped the older tombs, consisting of a cell in square blocks of tufa.

The ruins found, now mainly kept in the Capitoline Museums and the Municipal Antiquarium, consist of inscriptions and marble cinerary urns decorated with floral motifs. Some modest gold jewels and silver ridge needles (hair pins) belonging to the funeral equipment of a young girl are particularly remarkable.