Monte Circeo or Cape Circeo ( it, Promontorio del Circeo , la, Mons Circeius) is a mountain promontory that marks the southwestern limit of the former

Pontine Marshes 250px, Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain The Pontine Marshes (, also ; it, Agro Pontino , formerly also ''Paludi Pontine''; la, Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, ''Pomptina Palus'' (singular) and ''Pomptinae Paludes'' (plu ...

.located on the southwest coast of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

near

San Felice Circeo San Felice Circeo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It was an ancient city called Circeii. It is included in the Circeo National Park. Sites include the Grotta Guattari, one of the oldest Ne ...

. At the northern end of the Gulf of Gaeta, it is about long by wide at the base, running from east to west and surrounded by the sea on all sides except the north. The land to the northeast is the former ancient

. Most of the ancient swamp has been

reclaimed Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

for agriculture and urban areas. The mountain, the coastal zone as far north as

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

, including the only remaining remnant of the swamp, and two of the

Pontine Islands The Pontine Islands (, also ; it, Isole Ponziane ) are an archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Lazio region, Italy. The islands were collectively named after the largest island in the group, Ponza. The other islands in the archipe ...

offshore, Zannone and

Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina in th ...

, have been included in the Circeo National Park.

Geology

Although a headland, it was not formed by

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...

– as headlands are usually formed – but is a remnant of the

orogenic Orogeny is a mountain building process. An orogeny is an event that takes place at a convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An ''orogenic belt'' or ''orogen'' develops as the compressed plate crumples and is uplifted t ...

processes that created the Apennines. The entire coast of

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, on which the mountain and the marsh are located, was a chain of

barrier islands Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a f ...

that was formed on a horst and made part of the mainland by sedimentation of the intervening graben. The mountain is composed mostly of marl and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

from the Paleogene and of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from the lower

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...

Prehistory

In 1939, the skull of a

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

man was found in the Guattari Cave by a team led by

Alberto Carlo Blanc Alberto Carlo Blanc (30 July 1906 – 3 July 1960, Rome) was an Italian paleontologist who studied human evolution. He was a professor at the University of Pisa, Rome and is best known for the discovery of the Circeo neanderthal skull in February 1 ...

. Several other findings also show that the mountain was inhabited in prehistorical times. In May 2021, the remains of 9 Neanderthal men were discovered in the same Guattari cave. The Minister of Culture in Italy declared the site to be one of the most significant in the world regarding the Neanderthal period.Elisabetta Povoledo
These Neanderthals Weren’t Cannibals, So Who Ate Them? Stone Age Hyenas.
''Nytimes.com'', 8 May 2021

History

Today

Mount Circeo is today included in the National Park of Circeo, established in 1934 on over the territories of Latina, Sabaudia, San Felice Circeo and Zannone Island (minor island of

Ponziane Archipelago The Pontine Islands (, also ; it, Isole Ponziane ) are an archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Lazio region, Italy. The islands were collectively named after the largest island in the group, Ponza. The other islands in the archipe ...

References

External links

Holiday, sea, places to visit

Hystory and Legends
{{Authority control Circeo Circeo Circeo Landforms of the Tyrrhenian Sea Biosphere reserves of Italy Neanderthal sites Horsts (geology) Archaeological sites in Italy