Piazza dei Ravennati

Situated in the heart of Ostia’s oldest and most historic district, a short distance from the city center and the seafront, Piazza dei Ravennati is one of the best known places on the Roman coastline, a hub for commercial activities and a meeting point for residents and tourists.

Already designed in 1931, the square was modified between 1939 and 1940 when the Pontile (pier) was built, which at the time ideally represented the end of the Via del Mare (Italy’s first fully illuminated road), and transformed into a vast semicircular platform with flowerbeds and benches, paved with travertine and Bagnoregio slabs.

The name of the square (decided in 1947) pays tribute to the farm laborers, mostly from Ravenna, who after the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy, in conditions of extreme hardship, self-sacrificingly worked on the reclamation of the area, bringing with them agricultural knowledge that enabled the transformation of a malarial plain into productive land. In their memory, in 1984, on the occasion of the centenary of the completion of the land reclamation, a monument was placed in the garden at the center of the exedra.

Towards the mainland, the square is enclosed by two buildings. The building on the right was designed in 1929 by architect Mario Marchi (also the author of the nearby colorful so-called “Palazzo del Pappagallo” building, overlooking Piazza Anco Marzio) and is a testimony to the renewal and simplification of traditional languages towards modern architecture.

Together with the large 150-metre-long pier that juts out into the sea, the square is often the venue for public events and happenings, including markets, open-air concerts and cultural events. With the redevelopment completed in 2024, the square took on a new face: in particular, the pedestrian areas adjacent to the buildings and on the sides of the square were extended.

Find out more about Ostia and the Roman coast

Photo Turismo Roma