The Circeo promontory and marine habitat

The beauty and magic surroundings and ancient mystery around this mystical headland on the South Tyrrhenian Sea can be explained only by climbing the hill to the peak. A calcareous relief reaching 541 meters above sea-level, the Circeo’s promontory was originally an island that became linked to the mainland due the accumulation of detritus and larger stones from local creek beds and the sand dunes that were its earlier mainland link. The historian Procopio of Cesarea wrote:
“... as it is located for most of its part in the middle of the sea…..it is similar to an island…".

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The densely wooded peak of Monte Circeo, makes up the bulk of the park's reserve jutting out into the Tyrrhenian sea and remains a haven for rare water birds. Several species of falcons are often seen above the park's eucalyptus groves, the scent of which makes its musky way all along the coastal road and dunes. If you observe the promontory from the sea, it really appears at the horizon like a magic island. Strabone, a Greek geographer, once wrote that the Circeo Mountain rose “ like an island in the middle of the sea and of the marshes”… The particular shape of Mount Circeo is unique cannot be confused. The mount, maybe was really an island at the time of Homer. A particular shape, the icon of the Park, because it is linked to the myth of Ulysses and of Circe: in fact, “that profile” is “said” to be the one of Circe.

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