Castelfusano is an urban park in the comune of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. It divides the sea quarter of Ostia and the neighborhood of Casalpalocco. The castle and the park were founded in the 17th century by the Sacchetti family. Its vegetation consists mainly in a forest of colossal Maritime Pines and olm oaks (near the seaside). In the 18th century, the Sacchetti sold the property to the Chigi, who sold it in 1933 to the commune of Rome. In the park is still visible a stretch of the ancient Via Severiana. The park's vegetation was largely destroyed by

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

in July 2000.

Environment

Flora

A floristic study by Maria Grazia Guerrazzi identified the presence of 455 species divided into 272 genera and 73 families. There is a strong presence, within the evergreen

Maquis shrubland 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; , ; ; ; ) is a savanna-like shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis ...

, of lecci and domestic pines ('' Pinus pinea'') introduced by man in recent centuries. Among the various species, one can observe the strawberry tree, the lentiscus, the fillirea, the tree heather, the myrtle, the alaterno, the Phoenician juniper, the

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

and the

osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wikt:wsjr, wsjr'') was the ancient Egyptian deities, god of fertility, agriculture, the Ancient Egyptian religion#Afterlife, afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

.The_Territory/Schede_sul_territorio/Pineta_di_Castel_Fusano/ Website of the Municipality of Rome.
/ref> There are asparagus plants in the undergrowth, but harvesting them is prohibited.

Fauna

The area has been rich in game and birds since ancient times. In some periods, excessive hunting exploitation led local authorities to issue hunting bans for neighboring populations; for example, on 5 June 1277 there was a "ban on fowling and transit without authorisation". The Sacchetti family later restored the authorization "to bird and hunt wild boars, roe deer, deer, hares, porcupines, and hedgehogs", but the activity was probably excessive given that a century later a

chirograph A chirograph is a medieval document, which has been written in duplicate, triplicate or very occasionally quadruplicate (four copies) on a single piece of parchment, with the Latin word ''chirographum'' (occasionally replaced by some other term ...

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...

re-established the hunting reserve with severe penalties for those who violated it. In the past there were large mammals now extinct in the area: the deer (''

Cervus elaphus The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

''), the roe deer ('' Capreolus capreolus''), the fallow deer ('' Dama dama''). Currently we encounter foxes (''

Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

''), wild boars (''

Sus scrofa The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...

''), weasels, martens, hedgehogs ('' Erinaceus europaeus''), porcupines ('' Hystrix cristata''), moles ('' Talpa europaea''), wild rabbits ('' Oryctolagus cuniculus'') and badgers. Numerous birds are also present in the area, such as woodpeckers, hoopoes ('' Upupa epops''), blackcaps ('' Sylvia atricapilla''), wrens ('' Troglodytes troglodytes ''), warblers ('' Sylvia melanocephala''), robins, redstarts ('' Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), cuckoos, woodpeckers, reed warblers ('' Acrocephalus scirpaceus'' ), egrets ('' Egretta garzetta''), herons ('' Ardea purpurea'' and '' Ardea cinerea''), kingfishers ('' Alcedo atthis ''), moorhens ('' Gallinula chloropus''), black-winged stilts ('' Himantopus himantopus''), other typical species of the Mediterranean macchia. In 1986 a study was carried out on the fauna by Italia Nostra, but studies had already been carried out on the

avifauna Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

, in particular between 1930 and 1938 by the Ornithological Observatory of Castelfusano. Rare insect species can also be encountered.

References

Gardens in Rome Rome Q. XXXV Lido di Castel Fusano {{Lazio-geo-stub