Summer itineraries and archeology on the Circeo promontory

In the warm summer mornings, when its peak is covered by captivating mist or when the wind brings a dense sea fog and it seams like Circe will soon appear in one if its natural marine caves or ancient forest with her magical powers and spells,. In this magical and natural environment, the traveler can enjoy an enchanting landscape of relax and natural beauty.The Grotta delle Capre, (means ‘the cave of the goats’), is another interesting place owing its name to the fact that the shepherds used to protect their flocks inside during

the night when traveling during the ‘transumanza’, an ancient seasonal pastoral route between the marshlands and the pastures on internal Ausoni and Aurunci Mountains. Inside the cave a channel of sea erosion, nine metres under the current sea level, is precious evidence that in ancient times, about 100.000 years ago, the sea level was higher than these days and that the Circeo was still an island, separate from the continent by a narrow sea canal.

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The promontory has been inhabited for the last 60.000 years. The caves along the promontory are interesting from a palaeologic-historical point of view, in fact a number of handmade tools have been discovered here. Towards the sea there is the world-wide famous Grotta Guattari (Guattari Cave) , in which were founds rests of human skull belonging to a Neanderthal man lived almost 50.000 years ago. This cave remained unheard

of until February 24th 1939, following to a landslide that blocked its entrance till then. If approached from the sea, the promontory rocky coastline has plenty of hidden beaches that invite a relaxing visit of discovery. Other large caves on the Circeo headland are the Grotta Spaccata, the Grotta of Circe, Grotta dei Prigionieri, the Breuil Cave, Grotta Barbara, Grotta del Fossellone and the Grotta of Impiso. Just on top of the town of Circeo, there also large cyclopic walls of the ancient tribe of Circei, a mysterious population living here well before the Romans. The ancient acropolis is surrounded by massive polygonal defense walls in different levels. The larger circle of ancint walls surrounds the entire Circeo promontory. Beautiful, old medieval watchtowers like Torre Paola (Paola’s Tower) and others are part of the Circeo headland landscape. It is without a doubt the most particular landscape element of the whole Pontina area. Its inner slope, called "quarto freddo" is covered by a big thermophilous forest. Here the climate is more humid and the influence of the sea is less evident: along the paths that pass through the thick forest, you will find a dense and high spot of Holm-oaks, which in some parts make up a forest almost as wild as in the past. On the side on the plain, instead, there is the beautiful cork plantation of called Mezzomonte.

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While on the opposite slope, the so-called "quarto caldo", facing South and next to the sea, more extreme environmental conditions determine a less luxuriant Mediterranean vegetation with pioneer halophilic species (saltiness, dryness, and high temperature resistant), high and low maquis. This is the precipitous side of the Circeo promontory, which opens up to the sea towards south and so, it has a good sun exposition for the whole year.

This area of the promontory, it is covered by the resistant, colorful and scented rocky Mediterranean vegetation: holm-oaks, junipers, myrtle, lentisk, rosemary, heather, which fill the air with the typically Mediterranean flowers’ scents, intense and spiced. The presence of several caves on different levels of the slope facing the sea makes this area interesting both from a geo-speleological point of view, for the finds which have been discovered, and the many natural caves on the sea are a paradise for speleologists. Going to the southern side of the promontory, it is possible to visit the ‘Grotta dell capre’ (Cave of the Goats), an itinerary to be completed with the local tourist guides.