Description : Ostra is an Italian town of 6 513 inhabitants in the province of Ancona in the Marche region . It took on its current name from 12 May 1881 by Royal Decree : previously the town was called Montebodio and Montalboddo ; the first attestation of the original toponym ( Mons Bodii , Monte Bodio) dates back to the 12th century . The current town should not be confused with the ancient Roman city of Ostra , from which the current name derives and which is located in Le Muracce di Ostra Vetere . The legend In the year 410 AD the ancient Roman town of Ostra (whose ruins are located today in the locality "Le Muracce" of Ostra Vetere ) was destroyed by the Visigoths of Alaric . The surviving citizens then decided to take refuge on a nearby hill, owned by their fellow citizen Bodio, where it was decided to refound the inhabited center. Thus was born Monte Bodio (or Montalboddo), which kept this name until 1881 : in this year, in fact, it was decided to return to the ancient name of Ostra, precisely to confirm the direct descent of the current village from the ancient Roman municipality. The medieval origin However, there are no official documents that testify to a similar trend of events, so much so that the name "Monte Bodio" appeared for the first time in 1194 , the year the municipality was established. Before this date, the Ostrensi lands had initially been part of the Exarchate of Ravenna and then, donated to the Church by Pipino the Short , subjected to the dominion of the Archbishop of the same city of Romagna, without ever mentioning the presence of a real city centre.
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