The once beautiful beach of Ostia is still one of the weekend and holiday resorts most favored by the people of Rome, and accordingly is one of the busiest and liveliest stretches of sand and promenades in the whole of Italy. In recent years, however, Lido di Ostia has grown into a town of considerable size (pop. 55,000), and since most of its
sewage goes into the sea, where it is joined by the sewage carried down by the Tiber from Rome, bathing in the sea here is not to be recommended - indeed at times it is prohibited by the public health authorities.