Visiting Zannone Island

With the first morning sun it is possible to see all the islands of the archipelago and even the Circeo’s promontory on the mainland. These are the best conditions to sail around Zannone with a small boat to pass between its spectacular rocks. On top of Mount Pellegrino there is a Forestry Service station with a small educational exhibition concerning the naturalistic aspects of

the island. Don’t be surprised if during your walk you meet some wild sheeps, as mall colony of mouflons (Ovis aries musimon) was introduced in 1920s and is still inhabiting here. The island has got rich Mediterranean vegetation and is a very good pasture for the colony of wild sheeps, the mouflons, living on Zannone. There is actually an abundance of Holm oaks on which a lot of birds' species nest. From the "Punta del Lauro" to "Capo negro", there are very interesting points: the natural beauty of rich vegetation of ilex, laurel, heather and Ephedroides broom alongside high rocky strata of lime-stone and outcropping dolomite, "Cala Marina" and the small bay called "Cieca dei Pesci", where in the past fishermen used to bring together shoal of fish to be captured and killed in a sort of trap with no escape. Here is the reign of the Mediterranean scrub with its rosemary, heather, euphorbia, lentisk and phillyrea covering the eroded volcanic rocks.

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These are very ancient metamorphic rocks, probably dated 300 million years ago, completely different, in their origin and their history from the vulcanic rocks present on the island and the rest of the archipelago. The most interesting rests on Zannone are the ruins of an ancient Roman villa, which was then occupied by the island mediaeval monastery. The Benedictine monks settled in the Monastery of Santo Spirito,

of which we still see the rests, but abandoned it for centuries after a short period as a result of the continuous raids of the pirates. The monastery still preserves some fragments of ancient materials, reused to build the medieval building. It is visible a small water tank that belonged to the Roman plant. The tank was almost certainly used by the inhabitants of the villa who needed water reserves to be at hand, due to the scarcity of water and the distance from mainland.

Linked to the Roman villa, there is also a remarkable fish tank which must have belonged to it. It was entirely retrieved from the rock, in a small cove, called Varo, on the south-western area of the island, but it is probable that, already in more ancient ages, this small inlet used to be employed as a dock. The fish tank is an interesting witness of the technical devices of those times, like many works of the ancient Romans: the tank has an entrance tunnel, which, being slightly pending downwards, allowed the entrance of the water, without the chance that the water could flow back; with the partial closing of this ingenious system, the tank made sure that the trapped-up fishes couldn’t easily jump towards freedom and dinner was guaranteed!

The suggestive rests of the Benedictine monastery and the little museum centre represent well the solitary and enigmatic soul of the island, which encircle the liveliness of the florid vegetation together with the mystery and rustic nature of Zannone, which has been deserted for centuries. The lighthouse and the ruins of Zannone mediaeval Benedictine monastery dating back to the XIII century bring to mind memories of ancient stories. Here he imagination begins running through time and horizons, imagining the life of a small community in search of God through direct contact with sea, sky and natural world which is peaceful, magnificent and boundless. In this tiny insular heaven, boundaries become blurred and the sea seems fading into the sky.

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