Ciampino is located southeast of Rome, at the foot of the Roman Castles, ideally bridging urbanized society and rural life. It is best known for airport "Giovan Battista Pastine", which has become an icon in the collective imagination of the inhabitants of Ciampino since the time of Nobile, of 1950s film stars and the Shuttle landing in the early 1980s.

The great tourist appeal of Rome stems from the vast cultural, archaeological and artistic heritage of the capital city. In its own small way, Ciampino also helps increase the number of attractions offered by the Capital.

A bit of history
Important archaeological finds were excavated in the Ciampino area during the nineteenth century, due to the town’s proximity to Rome and to the presence of villas dating from the Roman Empire.
In 1880, Quinto Voconio Pollione’s villa was unearthed during the construction of a railway line. Sculptures and bas-reliefs were discovered inside this large building, which  had a rectangular plan. The pieces included a perfectly preserved Apollo Citaredo (the cithara player) which is now displayed in the Vatican Museums, Apollo Pythios, now at Palazzo Valentini, a Hero, a statue of the satyr Marsyas, a Vestal Virgin, Corinthian Capitals and some Iliac tablets, bas-reliefs illustrating Homeric poems which are now kept in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

Sarcophagi, marble reliefs, statues and various coins, a Medieval building with a peperino tuff altar, remains of villas, pitched roof tombs, oil lamps and fragments of sculptures were also found in other areas.
The Apotheosis of Homer, a precious marble votive offering discovered along Appia Antica in 1805 and now displayed in the British Museum in London, is a famous work of art.

Unfortunately during that period many finds were lost or sold. However, these unearthed “treasures” did not remain in the Ciampino area, but were later displayed in many museums in Rome, in the Vatican and in London. Some of them ended up in period buildings, in the collections of private connoisseurs.

Recently, the Municipal Art Conservation Office asked for the return of the finds unearthed in the area, with a view to gather all the masterpieces in one single museum in Ciampino.