CIVITA VECCHIA  , a seaport

town and episcopal see of Italy, in the province of Rome, 5o m . N.W. by rail and 35 M. direct from the city of Rome . Pop . (1871) 8143; (1901) 17,589 . It is the ancient Centum Cellae, founded by Trajan . Interesting descriptions of it are given by Pliny the Younger (Epist. vi . 31) and Rutilius Namat . 237 . The modern harbour works rest on the ancient foundations, and near it the cemetery of detachments of the Classes Misenensis and Ravennas has been found (Corp . Inscr . Lat. vol. xi., Berlin, 1888, pp . 3520 seq.) .

Remains of an

aqueduct and other Roman buildings are preserved; the imperial family had a villa here . Procopius mentions it in the 6th century as a strong and populous place, but it was destroyed in 813 by the Saracens . Leo IV. erected a new city for the inhabitants on the site where they had taken refuge, about 8 m . N.N.E. of Civita Vecchia towards the hills, near La Farnesina, where its ruins may still be seen; the city walls and some of the streets `and buildings may be traced, and an inscription 4 (which must have stood over one of the city gates) recording its foundation has been discovered . It continued to exist under the name Cencelle as a feudal castle until the 15th century . In the meantime, however, the inhabitants returned to the old town by the shore in 889 and rebuilt it, giving it the name Civitas Vetus, the modern Civita Vecchia (see 0 . Marucchi in Nuovo Bullettino di archeologia cristiana, vi., 1900, p . 195 seq.) . In 1508 Pope Julius II. began the construction of the castle from the designs of Bramante, Michelangelo being responsible for the addition of the central tower . It is considered by Burckhardt the finest building of its kind . Pius IV. added a convict prison . The arsenal was built by Alexander VII. and designed by Bernini .

Civita Vecchia was the

chief port of the Papal State and has still a considerable trade . There are cement factories in the town, and calcium carbide is an important article of export . The principal imports are coal, cattle for the home markets, and fire-bricks from the United Kingdom . Three miles N.E. were the Aquae Tauri, warm springs, now known as Bagni della Ferrata: considerable remains of the Roman baths are still preserved . About 1 m . W. of these are other hot springs, those of the Ficoncella, also known in Roman times .