Circeo National Park
Circeo National Park | |
---|---|
Parco Nazionale del Circeo | |
Location | Lazio |
Nearest city | San Felice Circeo |
Coordinates | 41°14′6″N 13°3′50.4″E / 41.23500°N 13.064000°E |
Area | 84.40 km2 (32.59 sq mi) |
Established | 1934 |
Governing body | Ministero dell'Ambiente |
www |
Circeo National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale del Circeo) is an Italian national park founded in 1934. It occupies a strip of coastal land from Anzio to Terracina, including also a sector of forest in the mainland of San Felice Circeo, and the island of Zannone.
The park was established by order of Benito Mussolini, under advice from Senator Raffaele Bastianelli, to preserve the last remains of the Pontine Marshes which were being reclaimed in that period. It is the only national park in Italy to occupy only a plain and coastal area. It reaches from approximately Pontinia in the north to Sabaudia in the south.[1]
Territory
The park can be divided into five main habitats: the forest, the promontory, the littoral dune, the humid area and the island of Zannone.
Forest area
The forest included in the park, occupying a grossly square sector between the SS 148 Pontina state road and the coast of San Felice Circeo, is the last relic of the so-called ancient "Selva di Terracina", once occupying much of what is now the central province of Latina. Now reduced to an area of c. 3,300 hectares, it is anyway the largest plain forest in Italy.
It is characterized by the peculiar piscine ("swimming pools"), temporary marshy areas forming in the autumn season due to the accumulation of rainwater, and the lestre, where once the sparse population built their villages. Vegetation includes
The berry vegetation allows the presence of a rich fauna, including wild boar, fallow deer, hare, european badger, red fox, weasel, green whip snake, Natrix maura, land and marsh Testudo, Triturus newt, toad and frog among the others.
Promontory
The promontory of Circeo, with a maximum height of 541 m, is a Mesozoic limestone-dolomite massif with a peculiar island shape, and gives its name to the whole park.
From a naturalistic point of view, it can be divided into two different sectors. The northern slopes of the promontory have a more humid climate and are covered by a thick shrub of
Wildlife, aside from the European badger, wild boar and beech marten, includes numerous bird species such as peregrine falcon and the common kestrel.
Among the numerous coastal caves of naturalistic interest are the Grotta Guattari, where in 1939 a skull of
Sea dunes
The park is home to a 22 km-long coastal sand strip, from the limestone cliffs of the Mount Circeo, in correspondence of the Torre Paola watchtower, up to Capo Portiere. The sand, characterized by fine sand, is backed by a typical maquis shrubland with a maximum depth of 27 meters. The section nearer to the sea is home to short vegetation, housing a number of small size wildlife including the European badger, foxes, lizards and beetles.
Farther from the sea are bigger plants, such as the
Humid areas
The humid area of the Circeo park includes four coastal salt lakes: Paola, Caprolace, Monaci and Fogliano, which are what remains of the
Other species present in the area include
Apart the lakes, there are some further smaller marshy area in which Italian Mediterranean buffalo shepherding is practiced.
Zannone
Zannone is a small island belonging to the
References
- ^ Joolen, Ester. "Parco Nazionale del Circeo" (PDF). Parco Nazionale del Circeo. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
External links
- Official website (in Italian)
- Pages by the Park Authority on Parks.it (in Italian, English, and German)