Porto Romano

The ancient Roman harbour district where cargo ships once unloaded amphorae of oil and wine

The Porto Romano district hugs the inner harbour and marks the footprint of ancient Olbia, which was one of the most significant commercial ports on the western Mediterranean coast during the Roman period. The shallow, sheltered bay made it ideal for trans-shipment between Sardinia's agricultural interior and the wider Roman empire — grain, olive oil, wine, and cork all passed through here.

Walking the streets around the modern waterfront you can see archaeological markers indicating where major finds were made. The neighbourhood has a more local, workaday character than the centro storico further up the hill, and a few trattorias here cater more to dock workers and fishermen than to tourists.

things to do sight
A story
During construction work in the 1990s, workers uncovered the waterlogged hulls of more than 20 Roman ships beneath the modern city streets — one of the largest collections of ancient wrecks found in a single excavation anywhere in Italy. The ships had sunk as the harbour silted up in late antiquity, and the waterlogged sediment preserved them in remarkable condition. The oldest dates to the 1st century BC.