Sperlonga

The old town is a knot of white lanes and stepped alleys on a promontory, unusually whitewashed for Lazio, built tight against Saracen raids. Below it Tiberius had a villa built around a natural sea cave, the spelunca that gave the village its name, with a dining platform on an island in the cave pool and vast marble groups from the Odyssey arranged around it, including Odysseus blinding the cyclops. The cave partly collapsed during a banquet and Tiberius was nearly killed. Thousands of marble fragments were found in 1957 and reassembled in the museum built beside the site.

History

Roman Spelunca, Latin for cave, was at first known only for the grotto on the coast, where a villa of the Republic was later owned by the emperor Tiberius, who turned the cave into a splendid dining room with sculptures found in place. In the 6th century the ruins sheltered local people, and later they moved to the promontory of St. Magnus to escape the unhealthy marshes and Saracen raids (Wikipedia, Sperlonga).

Highlights

• The white old town - stepped lanes on a cliff promontory.
• Tiberius' grotto - a sea cave fitted with a dining island.
• The Odyssey sculptures - reassembled marble groups in the site museum.
• The beaches - long sand either side of the headland.

When to go

May to September for swimming; July and August are very crowded and parking is difficult. The villa and museum close Mondays.

Practical notes

The old town is stepped and closed to cars, with luggage carried up. Summer crowding is severe. The sculptures are fragmentary reconstructions, not intact works.

Nearby

Gaeta lies south; Circeo National Park is west.

Key facts