Undiscovered Italy: The South Pontino 60 miles south of Rome.

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Undiscovered Italy: The South Pontino 60 miles south of Rome.

Nothing more exciting and amazing holiday in Rome, the eternal city where much of the western world culture was written. Rome is home to many of the most impressive and beautiful man-made places on earth like St Peter's Basilica, the Coliseum, and, as Dolce Vita lovers remember, Anita Eckberg’s Trevi Fountain.

But Latium, the region of Rome has many more surprises and a lot more to offer than just this amazing city; and while the Italian capital still recall ‘la dolce vita’ lifestyle, even the true Ro mans admit that during the warmer months a sweeter life might be found outside the city boundaries. Some of Rome's best-hidden history, legacy and secrets are tucked well away in the ancient villages and towns of the surrounding Lazio region.

The countryside and seaside south of Rome in southern Latium is geographically called South Pontino (Sud Pontino in Italian). Italy's magical combination of sun, sea, cuisine and culture has long attracted travelers to its beautiful shores. Surprisingly, in Italy there are still some undiscovered corners and the South Pontino is one of them. This territory, still known traditionally as the ‘Campagna Romana’ (means the Roman countryside), graces the canvases of most 18th- and 19th-century Italian landscape artists. Visiting this landscape in what the Romans call a ‘scampagnata’, literally meaning, an escape into the countryside and the sea.

The eternal city is one of the hottest cities in Italy from the spring to the autumn. It is also certainly an expensive spot on the globe when it comes to pay for hotels and dining out. A few days out of Rome can only bring benefits to anyone wallet before the bank balance melts away faster than an Italian gelato under the summer sun.

As a result, when in Rome is already too hot like between May and September, maybe the best thing to do is to enjoy some journeys of discovery among the landscapes of southern Latium. Either by driving or train travellers will enjoy the view of landscapes which are beautiful and tranquil, ancient and mysterious. Travelers going south of Rome by train will experience a quiet and peaceful journey in the middle of rural South Italy. For fans of driving nothing better than following that stylish retro’ Alfa Romeo leaving Rome’s suburbia and heading south on the old SS 148 Via Pontina road.

This ancient Roman road was built more than 2000 years ago’ by the Romans and will take travellers up to the enchanting Gulf of Gaeta right in the hearth of Sud Pontino. The Sud Pontino lies in the province of Latina little more than an hour and half driving south of Rome. About one hour driving south out of Rome, starting from the Circeo Promontory, travellers will be in a sunny corner of Italy with landscapes blending magically the nearness of the Ausoni and Aurunci mountains to the South Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Sud Pontino is still unspoilt and plenty of traditions, an old land with many ancient hidden treasures. It is a world away from the polluted, noisy and tourists-packed streets of Rome. A land of sea and mountains, with scents of the sea blending with the wild Mediterranean herbs and flowers of rosemarine, jasmine and many others. Historically a land of passage, this is the door to the South of Italy, to a deeply Latin and Mediterranean Italy, with its people, cultures and sunny landscapes.

Mediaeval towns on the sea and on the hills with a diversity of beautiful natural environments: from large extensions of cultivated fields of olive groves and vineyards among rolling hills and lakes, to the breathtaking view of the Aurunci and Ausoni Mountains with their landscapes over hanged on the sea. Medieval hilltop villages amid verdant fields. Along the coast many miles of white, sandy beaches with green-turquoise waters with the sight of ancient Roman ruins and villas.

The Sud Pontino has all the typical treasures whose appeal pushes holiday-makers flocking to Italy, yet remains a jewel largely undiscovered by foreign travellers. Large crowds are in search of the big names: Rome, Naples, Capri Island, Sorrento , Amalfi, Positano and so on. This has a certain advantage translating into relatively lower prices for accommodation and reasonable bills for the excellent local South Pontino gastronomy. Since ancient times, this area of southern Lazio was chosen as holiday retreat by many Roman emperors and statesmen. The Italians have been lucky for keeping the beauty of Sud Pontino to themselves for decades. But a connoisseur traveller can discover an enchanting part of Italy while cutting costs by using this area as a base from which to explore Rome.

As travellers will realise, the South Pontino has plenty of of natural beauty and fascination to justify a longer and slower-paced journey of discovery. Therefore, once here travellers could easily ending up forgetting about visiting the big city up the road and enjoy the local natural beauty and relaxation offered by South Lazio.

Driving on the coastal roads will disclose a corner of Italy with enchanting places on the sea. The towns on the sea like Gaeta, Sperlonga, Terracina, Formia, San Felice display to travellers their amazing historic medieval districts. Here, the towns on the hills of South Pontino blend in their beauty their long medieval heritage with archeological treasures of ancient Rome’s history. The South Pontino shoreline extends for more than 90 km (56 miles) and starts from the dunes near Fogliano’s Lake until the Garigliano river. The most important cities in this part of Latium are: Sabaudia, S. Felice Circeo, Terracina, Fondi, Sperlonga, Gaeta, Formia and Minturno.

The natural and historic boundaries of South Pontino includes also the gorgeous Pontine islands divided into two groups: Ponza, Palmarola, Gavi and Zannone on the North-West and Ventotene and Santo Stefano on the South-East. One of them, the tiny Ventoterne Island, was an ancient marine volcano, ample to the base around 300 Km²s and tall more than 700 ms from the seabed. Today it remains only an emerging slice of its part that form the small beautiful island of Ventotene, about 3 kms long and with the widest point less than 800 mt. The sea between the Pontine Islands and the cost offer enchanting marine sceneries to the travelers reaching the South Pontino by sailing in its sea.

From the town of Latina it is possible to travel out in different directions: towards the hills and mountains inland, to visit the historic towns, Ninfa and Fossanova and Valvisciolo Abbeys, and take excursions or go trekking; towards the plain, to discover the old papal roads (called “migliare") and also the ancient route of the Roman Appian Way described by Horace. Along the way a beautiful countryside with the farms, the water drainage equipment, the system of channels and rivers built to reclaim the Pontine marshes and the ‘new tows’ built under Mussolini regime; towards the sea, skirting the coastal lakes with their many varieties of birds, to visit the Circeo National Park, the landscapes who were described 3000 years ago’ in Homer’s myth of Ulysses and the enchantress Circe with the many open-air museums of ancient Romans summer villas.

By choosing the internal provincial roads travelers will discover hidden villages among hills, valleys and mountains which have been unchanged for centuries. The local natural parks preserve areas of Mediterranean wilderness of outstanding natural beauty. Up there on the mountains, the air is clean and fresh, and on a clear day the panoramic sights are simply spectacular.

From the Aurunci Mountains, in one direction there are views of breathtaking mountain scenery, in another the beautiful sight of Ischia and the Pontine Islands, the panoramic coastline sweeping round and culminating in the rocky promontory of San Felice di Circeo. The natural border of the South Pontino finally terminate in the south with a splendid view of the Gulf of Gaeta. The secret to discover the South of Lazio is to use all the small secondary and off-the-beaten track routes in your driving journey by either following the coastal roads or the internal ones crossing landscapes of hills and mountains. Either way, the use of these secondary roads will disclose a territory of undiscovered Italy to foreigners.

Driving here far from motorways and main regional roads will allow to be in touch with the ‘real place’ and to discover some of landscapes of Italy described since the cultural “Grand Tour”. In the era when young British aristocrats and scholars undertook the cultural "Grand Tour" of Italy, a common itinerary would have included Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples. Thus many great artists and writers would have journeyed along the route of the local South Pontino’s Via Appia Way, and some of the local villages were a welcoming resting place for fatigued travelers.

The description of Itri village’s castle was found on the journey’s diary of Charles Dickens. When he travelled through Itri during the 19th century, the writer described the castle in his journey’s journal as being "like a device in pastry, built up, almost perpendicularly, on a hill, and approached by long steep flights of steps."

These roads cross through the area reaching the coast and climbing up to the hills and mountains. Along the coast is the ancient Via Flacca road, which has changed its course very little since it was built in the third century A.C. The Appian Way, running inland, crosses the ancient towns of Fondi, Monte San Biagio and the places with stories of the legendary brigand and patriot Fra' Diavolo (means Brother Devil, the local Robin Hood of the 18th century) who was born at Itri, or further inland towards tiny village of Campodimele, the place of long life, where its villagers live on average up to 100 years old.

The territory inland is crossed by two Sub-Apennines mountin ranges. From North to South the Ausoni and the Aurunci Mounts, two of three mountain ranges once re-united under the only name of Volsci Mounts. The roads among hills and mountains will reveal the medieval images of small villages like Itri, Campodimele, Pico, Lenola, Spigno Saturnio, Ausonia, Castelnuovo Parano, Maranola, Castellonorato, a historic group of little villages nestling in the foothills of or within the Aurunci Mountains, part of the Aurunci National Park.

The enchanting ancient mediaeval squares, churches, abbeys and alleys of these small hillside and mountain villages seem to recount the millennia of history behind. Some of the villages’ medieval centers have streets and alleys so narrow and so small that can be reached and visited only by foot. The historical centers always situated in the upper and older districts of the villages have all their own fortified medieval quarter with labyrinths of narrow cobbled streets, archways, gates and stairways in old stones. The villagers, especially the elders, keep many of their old traditions, including producing their own food and ingredients, a common habit in traditional old-style families of rural southern Italy.

Just half an hour inland from the coast lies the village of Campodimele, which is considered as one of the most beautiful and interesting in Italy. Perched on a hilltop amid a hill surrounded by the Aurunci Mountains, Campodimele's twisting streets are encircled by medieval walls with towers. The village church dates from the 11th century. The unique aspect of this tiny village of South Italy lies in its people. The villagers enjoy one of the highest levels of longevity in the world. A visit and a stop for a taste of the local mountain cuisine followed by a coffee at the café on the main piazza, is highly recommended.

A part of the divine taste of the mountain delicatessen and the cheerful feeling after sipping the strong local red wine will there is the view offering a breathtaking panorama of the mountains around the village. Southward, the countryside changes and it opens to the splendid Bay of Gaeta framed by the Aurunci Mountains overlooking the sea and to the spa of Suio Terme, along the Garigliano River marking the border between Lazio and Campania regions.

For those who will choose to drive along the coast instead, the towns and villages on the sea will reserve beautiful and serene marine landscapes, with the special feeling given by the scent of fresh marine air from the sea. Among the several towns on the coast of southern Latium my absolute favorite is the fishermen village of Sperlonga. In any time and season of the year the traveler visiting Sperlonga will be enchanted by the Mediterranean simplicity of its beauty.

Relax, swimming and sunbathing are a must after the 1,5 hour drive from Rome. Sperlonga golden sandy beaches are a paradise for sea lovers with crystal-clear waters recently awarded with the prestigious European Blue Flag for several consecutive years.

The village is nestled on the peak of a rocky spur with an ancient Spanish Tower, Torre Truglia, at its feet. Sperlonga preserves unchanged that picturesque and romantic look of an ancient village of medieval times. Walking in the village tiny alley brings that special feeling of traveling in medieval times, the same felt in many other places in Italy like Siena, Rome or Venice.

The meeting with the marine landscape of Sperlonga includes ancient ruins from the past that recall vibrating and heroic Homeric and Rome’s stories following and displaying the marks and rhythm of the centuries which become millennia of history behind them. Further south the area between Sperlonga and The Gulf of Gaeta is considered one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Italy. More than often foreign visitor visiting the area often ask me how it has escaped international notice for so long. History recounts that the ancient Greeks and Romans appreciated the beauty of this land and created many tales between history and legends around this part of Italy.

According to the great Roman writer Virgil, the Greek hero Aeneas landed in the area of Gaeta’s Gulf at Serapo during his ten years-long voyage following the Trojan war. Surprisingly, this land was mentioned even before ancient Rome, 3000 years ago’ when Homer describes Mount Circeo it in The Odyssey, during Ulysses’ long journey hence its name as Ulysses Riviera.
So for every visitor and lover of Rome with few days of spare time, should not miss the opportunity to venture south outside the eternal city walls to discover some of Italy’s finest traditional landscapes.

The South Pontino, or ‘Sud Pontino’ , how they say over there, is less than 100 kilometers south of Rome. We named it the Land of Aeneas and Ulysses from its ancient heroes, where every village, road or archaeological ruin seems to recall a timeless land of passage.

The traveler here can almost feel the long history and the grandeur of ancient Mediterranean civilizations that arrived from the sea, landing on the coast and leaving the everlasting marks in several places of Southern Lazio. Travelers will discover ancient itineraries, most of which are off the beaten track, in places where history, sea, and traditions reveal some of the most precious archeological treasures in the world. It’s just another corner of beautiful Italy, with magic landscapes with authentic heritage and culture framed by blue waves, rolling hills and fields into hidden valleys too often overshadowed by the magnificence of Rome and Naples.

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