Introduction

A main gate in the city wall of Ostia has been called Porta Laurentina, because a road departing from it led to the Vicus Augustanus Laurentium, a small settlement a few kilometres to the south of Ostia. A gate with this name already existed in antiquity. In the martyrdom of Gallicanus and Hilarinus we read: "The holy deacon Laurentius appeared to the Emperor Constantine in a dream, urging him to arrange to have a church built in his name at the gate which up to the present time is called Laurentia". It's pretty certain that the real name of the gate was Laurentina instead of Laurentia, and that it was not named after this Laurentius.

A Christian basilica has been found near a secondary gate a bit to the east of the main gate, through geophysical research. A few trenches have shown that it belongs to the early fourth century, to the period of Constantine. Most likely this was his basilica (there is another basilica a bit to the south, but that one was built at the end of the fourth century). It remains to be seen whether the ancient Porta Laurentina was the main gate or the secondary gate.

The Porta Laurentina seen from the south.
Photo: Daniel González Acuña.

During the 1938-1942 excavations the plan was to create an entrance to the excavations near the Porta Laurentina. The ticket office can still be seen. Whether it was ever used I do not know.

Shops inside the Porta Laurentina, seen from the north. In the center is the old, closed ticket office.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

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