Civitavecchia

From Freepedia

Civitavecchia is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio, a sea port on the Tyrrhenian sea, 50 miles WNW of Rome, 42°06N 11°47E. According to the 2003 census, its population was 50,100. The harbor was originally constructed by the Emperor Trajan; the town indeed owed its origin entirely to the port of this emperor, and hence came to be known as Portus Trajani. The harbor is formed by two moles and a breakwater, on which latter is a lighthouse. The place became a free port under Pope Innocent XII in 1696. It suffered at the hands of the Goths and Saracens, and was occupied by the French in 1849. The Papal troops opened the gates of the fortress to the Italian general Bixio in 1870. It is today a major cruise and ferry port. Its name translates literally to "Old City".