Civita' Vecchia

Civita' Vecchia, an Italian fortified port, 50 miles NW. of Rome by rail, on the Mediterranean. The harbour is both a commercial and naval one, and 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. Population, 12,300. The harbour is formed by two moles and a break-water, on which latter is a lighthouse. The place, which became a free port under Pope Innocent XII. in 1696, is regularly visited by steam-packets from Marseilles, Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, Messina, and Malta. It suffered at the hands of 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.