Discover Circeo National Park

Circeo National Park was founded in 1934 and runs along a strip of coast from Anzio to Terracina, taking in a sector of forest inland of San Felice Circeo and the island of Zannone. It is the only national park in Italy to occupy nothing but plain and coast. It was established by order of Mussolini, on the advice of Senator Raffaele Bastianelli, to preserve the last remnants of the Pontine Marshes as they were being drained.

Circeo is the only national park in Italy that occupies nothing but plain and coast. It runs along the Tyrrhenian shore of Lazio between Anzio and Terracina, covers 8,917 hectares, and takes its name from the promontory at its southern end.

Monte Circeo reaches 541 m and is the one piece of relief in the whole park: a Mesozoic limestone-dolomite massif with the odd look of an island stranded inland. It got there by travelling -- it formed by sedimentation somewhere in what is now the Tyrrhenian and then slid over flysch layers for about 200 kilometres into its present position. Its two faces behave like different countries. The north slope, the Quarto freddo, is humid; the south, the Quarto caldo, is in sun all year. At the foot of the massif a system of caves has recorded past swings of climate and sea level, and preserved evidence of human occupation going back to the Palaeolithic.

The forest occupies a roughly square block between the Pontina state road and the coast at San Felice Circeo -- about 3,300 hectares, the last relic of the Selva di Terracina that once covered much of what is now central Latina province, and still the largest plain forest in Italy. Its surface is pitted with piscine, shallow marshy pools that fill with autumn rain, and with lestre, the clearings where a sparse seasonal population once built villages.

The dune is a 22 km strip of fine sand running from the limestone cliff of the promontory, just below the Torre Paola watchtower, to Capo Portiere and on towards Capo d'Astura. Behind the beach a dune ridge rises to a maximum of 27 metres.

The wetlands are four brackish coastal lakes -- Paola, Caprolace, Monaci and Fogliano -- shallow at around two metres, linked to the sea by canals that keep the water exchanging. They are the surviving fragment of the Pontine Marshes, and around them lie further marshy ground and pasture.

Zannone, a small island of the Pontine archipelago, was annexed in 1979 and remains uninhabited.

Circeo protects five habitats, and the plant list changes completely between them.

The forest is the last relic of the ancient Selva di Terracina, reduced to about 3,300 hectares and still the largest plain forest in Italy. It is a meeting point of climates: continental species such as Turkey oak, ash and pedunculate oak grow alongside Mediterranean ones -- holm oak, bay laurel and cork oak. The understory is unusually rich in berry and fruit species: hawthorn, blackthorn, wild apple and pear, strawberry tree, tree heath and butcher's broom. Fungi are abundant and valued enough that collecting is regulated and controlled. Its character comes from the piscine, temporary marshy pools that form in autumn from rainwater, and the lestre, clearings where the seasonal population once built their villages. Three integral nature reserves sit inside it -- Piscina delle Bagnature, Piscina della Gattuccia and Lestra della Coscia -- and the forest was declared a biosphere reserve in 1977 under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere programme.

The promontory splits into two slopes with different floras. The north face, the Quarto freddo, is humid and carries tall holm-oak maquis with manna ash, hop hornbeam, downy oak and Italian oak lower down, erica, broom and strawberry tree beneath, and a cork-oak wood of about 25 hectares at Mezzomonte where the mountain meets the plain. The south face, the Quarto caldo, is sunlit all year and carries Mediterranean rock vegetation: holm oak, Phoenicean juniper, tree spurge, myrtle, mastic, rosemary and erica, with rock samphire, helichrysum, sea lavender and Circe's knapweed, Centaurea cineraria subsp. circae, among the low plants. The most interesting presence is the dwarf palm -- the only spontaneous palm in Europe, a relict of warmer epochs.

The dune is a hard place to be a plant: high temperatures, long droughts, poor soil and strong wind, which is why its species have small or needle-like leaves. The pioneers nearest the sea -- sea daffodil, sand couch grass, sea chamomile, hottentot fig -- look insignificant and are structural: they break the wind, and their roots knit an underground net that holds the sand and builds the dune so other species can follow. Behind them come prickly juniper and mastic, then maritime pine and holm oak, replaced near the lakes by alder, ash, poplar and willow.

The wetlands -- Paola, Caprolace, Monaci and Fogliano -- carry salicornia, inula and tamarisk on their shores. Zannone, uninhabited since it joined the park in 1979, is the only island in the Pontine archipelago to have kept its original vegetation cover: helichrysum on the cliffs, then mastic, myrtle and erica, then broom, phillyrea and tree spurge giving way to strawberry tree and holm oak, with holm-oak woods and bay laurel on the north side. Its autumn heather bloom is spectacular.

The park authority carries the formal designations to match: a Special Protection Area for the whole park and Sites of Community Importance for the lakes, the Lago di Sabaudia, the state forest, both faces of the promontory, the dunes and the Palmarola-Zannone islands, plus two marine conservation zones off the coast.

The wetlands are the headline. The four coastal lakes are a refuge for a long list of water birds -- cattle egret, crane, goose, northern lapwing, skylark and curlew among them -- and the best place to watch is Pantani dell'Inferno, facing Lago di Caprolace, where brackish lake water meets fresh marsh and brings different species down together. The lakes were declared a wetland of international importance in 1976. They also hold the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis, a species at risk of extinction in Italy, along with fish used as indicators of water quality.

The forest carries the Mediterranean mammals: wild boar, hare, badger, hedgehog, fox and weasel. Reptiles include the green whip snake, grass snake, viper and both land and marsh tortoises; amphibians the newt, toad and frog. The berries and small fruits of the understory draw large numbers of songbirds.

The fallow deer are a problem, not an attraction, and the park says so. They were introduced in 1953 as part of game-restocking programmes run by the former state forestry agency and kept inside a 400-hectare enclosure. They escaped, and their descendants now occupy the entire forest at varying densities. With no predators to balance them, they are damaging the forest's regeneration, and the authority runs a fallow-deer control plan in response.

On the promontory, alongside badger, wild boar, beech marten and dormouse, the interest is raptors: peregrine falcon and common kestrel nest here, and many more species pass over on migration. On the dune the fauna is small -- badgers, foxes, rabbits, lizards and beetles living among the scrub. In autumn the sea delivers the barchette di San Pietro, by-the-wind sailors that look like tiny sailing boats and turn the beach bluish.

Zannone's notable animal is the mouflon, introduced in the 1920s and now a protected species; thousands of birds stop on the island during migration.

The park authority runs named conservation programmes on several of these: projects on bats, on amphibians, on the Italian hare, on birds as biodiversity indicators, and on wild-boar management across the Italian national parks.

The whole forest is walkable and cyclable on a dense network of paths, and the park authority publishes its trails as named sets rather than leaving you to improvise: Sentieri nel Parco, a separate group for the promontory, cycle routes, a Sentieri per tutti selection, and a further set for walkers with dogs on the lead. Start from those rather than from a general map.

On the dune, access to the beach is deliberately channelled. Wooden walkways have been laid so that people can reach the sand without trampling the vegetation that holds the dune together -- the pioneer plants are what stop it blowing away. A road runs along the top of the dune, and for one stretch, at Lago dei Monaci, it is open only to walkers and cyclists.

The promontory is the steep part: Monte Circeo rises to 541 m, and the caves are at its base. The Grotta delle Capre is described as easily reached on foot, with the Grotta dell'Impiso and the Grotta del Fossellone close by; others, including the Grotta Azzurra and the Grotta della Maga Circe, are sea caves.

Three areas inside the forest are integral nature reserves -- Piscina delle Bagnature, Piscina della Gattuccia and Lestra della Coscia -- and integral protection is the strictest category there is. Treat them as closed unless the authority says otherwise.

The park runs visitor structures where you can get current route information: the Centro Visitatori - Museo del Parco and a documentation centre on schooling and health in the Pontine marshes. The Ente Parco is at Via Carlo Alberto 188, Sabaudia, on 0773 512240.

Zannone is an island and uninhabited; reaching it means a boat.

When was the park founded, and why?

In 1934, by the forestry administration of the day at Mussolini's wish and on the suggestion of Senator Raffaele Bastianelli, to protect the last remains of the Pontine Marshes, which were being drained in exactly those years.

How big is it and what does it cover?

8,917 hectares along the Tyrrhenian coast of Lazio between Anzio and Terracina, taking in a forest, the Circeo promontory, the dune, four coastal lakes and the island of Zannone. It is the only national park in Italy to occupy only plain and coastal land.

Is it a UNESCO site?

It has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1977, under the Man and Biosphere programme, and has been put forward for World Heritage listing. Its wetlands were separately declared of international importance in 1976.

How high is Monte Circeo?

541 m. It is a Mesozoic limestone-dolomite massif that formed by sedimentation somewhere in what is now the Tyrrhenian and then slid about 200 km over flysch layers into its present position.

What was found in the caves?

A Neanderthal skull, in the Grotta Guattari in 1939; the Grotta Breuil was also inhabited by Neanderthals. In 2025 the discovery at Riparo Blanc of the oldest necropolis in Lazio was announced, dated between 9,300 and 7,500 B.C. and among the oldest known anywhere.

Is this Circe's island?

Legend places the sorceress Circe on the Circeo, where after trying to turn Odysseus and his companions into pigs she took them in for a year. Seen from a distance the promontory resembles a sleeping woman, or a pig -- which some suggest is where the legend came from.

What is the best place for birdwatching?

Pantani dell'Inferno, opposite Lago di Caprolace, where the brackish water of the lake and the fresh water of the marshes meet and bring different species together.

Why are there so many fallow deer?

Because they escaped. They were introduced in 1953 for game-restocking by the former state forestry agency and kept in a 400-hectare enclosure; the population that got out now occupies the whole forest, and with no predators it damages the forest's regeneration. The park runs a control plan.

Can I take my dog?

The park authority publishes a specific set of trails for walkers with dogs on the lead.

Can I pick mushrooms?

Only under the rules. The forest's fungi are notably rich and prized, and collecting them is regulated and controlled.

How do I get to Zannone?

By boat. Zannone is a small uninhabited island of the Pontine archipelago, annexed to the park in 1979, and the only one in the group to have kept its original vegetation cover.