Castle of Julius IICastello di Giulio II

Castle of Giulio II rises beside Sant’Aurea Church as Ostia’s reminder that the Tiber’s mouth was once a contested frontier. Built 1483–87 for Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the future Pope Julius II, and traditionally attributed to Baccio Pontelli, its moat, thick walls, and round tower turn Renaissance geometry into hard defense and control of the port road to Rome. Inside, late 15th c. grotesque frescoes—born from the rediscovery of ancient Roman ornament—soften the fortress with a humanist imagination that still feels woven into local memory.