The museum area of the Roman coast includes two complementary and integrated routes from a museographic and environmental perspective. The first route, which takes place outdoors, explores the most interesting places of the Ostiense reclamation area: the low and high water canals, the large basin for collecting low waters, and the ancient and modern pumping plants.
In the main building of the facility, built in 1884, it is possible to admire the engine room virtually in its original condition, still housing the first hydraulic lifting pumps, which remain functional.
In the garden area, full-scale models of farm huts and some agricultural tools are on display. The second route, inside the museum structure, is divided into various sections representing different themes and moments related to the reclamations and the physical and anthropic transformations of the territory: the coastal countryside before the 19th century; the hygienic and sanitary conditions of the countryside and legislation for the capital’s reclamation; discoveries on malaria transmission and the anti-malaria fight; the birth of laborer cooperatives in Ravenna; the Roman coast reclamation enterprise; the birth and development of contemporary settlements.
The rooms present historical photographic documents; memories and artifacts; household objects and original work tools; testimonies, songs, sounds, and video and audio recordings of protagonists and memory holders of life in the last century; reconstructed sets and plastic scale models of the reclamation area. A special model with water lifting pumps simulates the operation of the reclamation facility.
