In some famous passages of the Odyssey it is told about the sorceress Circe who tried to turn Ulysses and his men into swine before she convinced herself to help them in their undertaking. To think that one of the greatest poems in history was partly inspired by Mount Circeo highlights the extraordinary nature of this wonderful place.
Circeo National park: an epic beauty
To think that one of the greatest poems in history was partly inspired by Mount Circeo highlights the extraordinary nature of this wonderful place. Recognized in 1934 as a National Park, the Circeo is one of the oldest protected areas in Italy. The park extends along the Tyrrhenian coast on an area of 5,616 hectares between Anzio and Terracina. There is no point on the southern coast of Lazio where it is not possible to see Mount Circeo, whose geological conformation seems to recall a woman overcome by sleep and slumber. Most probably it was also thanks to this peculiar aspect of the mountain that inspired the legend of the sorceress.
During the centuries it was a Roman colony, feud of Templars and papal stronghold. But more than the strictly historical interests, it is the prehistoric and naturalistic interests that have the most say in the matter, starting from the Circeo promontory, which represents an area of considerable speleological interest since, at its base, there are numerous caves, which have kept track of climatic variations and sea level oscillations in geological eras and have given back precious evidence of an ancient human occupation of this place, starting even from the Palaeolithic. The park also boasts the presence of the largest flat forest in Italy, the Circe forest, as well as a wide variety of flora and fauna.
The park awaits you
The Circeo National Park is waiting for you and is ready to take you by the hand and lead you on a wonderful adventure. Are you a nature lover? Then an excursion in the Circeo forest, maybe to get to the heart of the forest itself, in Cerasella, where there is an enclosure of deer and wild boar is just what you need. Or if you are a sports lover close to the Duna Litoranea, there is a lagoon environment consisting of four coastal lakes. In these areas you can practice numerous water sports, from rowing to sailing.
A truly unforgettable experience can also be to visit the island of Zannone situated among volcanic rocks dating back hundreds of millions of years, and being the northernmost island of the Pontine Islands is the most interesting from a geological and naturalistic point of view.
Itineraries, excursions, speleological, geological and historical interests, make this huge area a truly unique place in Italy and in the world. Certainly could not miss the local traditions and religious festivities to which we warmly invite you to participate, we remember here some of them: the feast of the blue fish which is held in September without forgetting that of Santa Maria della Sorresca, which provides for the day after Pentecost, a procession in which you carry on your shoulders the statue of the Virgin from the church of San Felice Martyr to arrive then to Sabaudia.
The Circeo is ready to give you a thousand and more emotions.
