Day 15 Civitavecchia
Today we have docked in Civitavecchia which is the port that has serviced Rome for over two thousand years. Rome is about a two hour bus ride away and since we have been there a few times and didn’t fancy spending 4 hours of our day in a bus, we decided to spend our day exploring this town.
Amongst the city’s highlights mentioned in the guides was the Museum of Antiquities which surprisingly was not shown anywhere on the tourist map but, after much searching, we finally found it from Apple maps. Unfortunately when we got there it was closed.
Next on the guide’s must-see list was the Michelangelo Fort, so named because he is claimed to have designed the fort’s tower. Built in the 16th Century to protect against the pirate menace, the place is huge and hard to miss but unfortunately it also was closed.
As you walk along the waterfront you can see parts of the original Roman defences amongst a large array improvements and extensions that have been added on over time up to the 17th century.
The places where modern roads have been cut through the city walls gives you a chance to understand how massive these fortifications were.
Jeanette got her daily fix of church visiting as we explored the town’s beautiful cathedral.
We wandered around the streets and came across the town’s market in full swing. We then found the Piazza Fratti where had a lovely coffee and watched the world go by for a bit.
After more walking about we found our selves up on a plaza along the top of part of the city walls and we stopped for a long lunch there in the beautiful warm Italian sunshine.
Hardys’ Travels 