ARDEA

Altitude 37 m (120 feet). 30,000 inhabitants

Capital of the Rutuli since the end of the seventh century BC. Their king, Turno, would have opposed the landing of Aeneas in Lavinium on the nearby coast

It was already dependent on Rome in 509 BC and in 442 or 434 BC it became a Roman colony. There are remains of a TEMPIO dating back to this period

Two plateaus:

CIVITAVECCHIA with the remains of a temple and a church that looked out on a hole

CASALÀZZARA with remains of fortifications, originally embankments with moats and later walls in tufa blocks. Acropolis with a temple and another temple building in front of the church of St. Peter

Collection friends of Manzù

465 pieces: jewelry, sculptures, medals, engravings and theatrical sketches donated by Giacomo Manzù (1908/91) who lived in Ardea from 1964 until 1991 the year of his death

In the garden there is his monumental tomb

S. Marina

1191 for Cencio Savelli, the future Pope Honorius III (1216/27)

It was built in the place where, according to legend, would have been the entrance to the cave where S. Marina lived as a hermit, after the monks discovered she was a woman and expelled her from the convent where she lived

Entrance with columns supported by lions and with architrave decorated with bas-relief

The interior was originally frescoed

Behind the MAIN ALTAR there are remains of a nymphaeum carved into the stone dating back to the second century AD