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# SUD is just Italian for south; OSTRO is the same direction, named for Auster, the Roman wind-god
- URL: https://www.readingrome.com/sud-is-just-italian-for-south-ostro-is-the-same-direction-named-for-auster-the-roman-wind-god/
- Published: 2026-10-14T10:36:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-14T10:36:07.000Z
- Author: Maria Chugrova

Sixteen marble discs are set into the pavement around the obelisk in St. Peter's Square, each naming a wind — Tramontana, Levante, Ostro, Ponente and the rest of the old eight-wind compass, laid in 1817 by a Vatican astronomer. SUD is just plain Italian for south; OSTRO is the same direction, named for the Roman wind-god Auster. Your phone's compass has fewer opinions.  
RR