Top 6 Caves ラティーナでの

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An incredible place for glimpses and lights

The name comes from a tragic 19th-century love story: Lucia Rosa, a young local girl, threw herself off the cliff after her father forbade her to marry the boy she loved, a simple farmer. The stacks in front of the cove bear her name in memory of this legend. Lucia Rosa Beach, located on the western coast of the island of Ponza, is one of the most evocative and fascinating coves of the Pontine archipelago. It is an inlet characterized by spectacular cliffs with multi-colored colors, imposing stacks and numerous caves with small pebble beaches inside them. Off shore is the “Secca dei Mattoni”, where in 1985 a Roman wreck was found with amphorae dating back to the 1st century BC. Punta di Capo Bianco is located between the beach of Chiaia di Luna and the Faraglioni di Lucia Rosa, also on the western side of the island. It is a spectacular rock face of a surreal white that plunges sheer into a turquoise sea. The area is famous for the purity of the cliff color and for the presence of numerous caves, which can only be visited by small boats. The peregrine falcon nests on the rocks, which can be observed during canoe or rowboat excursions.

During the interglacial period, the height of the Mediterranean Sea was higher by 10/15 meters, and in fact Circeo was an island. Retreating, the sea dug a whole series of coastal caves, and the Grotta delle Capre (so called because it seems that the shepherds used it to protect the goats during rainy days) is one of these. In ancient times it seems to have been called "Grotta della Maga" because here, legend has it, the Sorceress Circe elaborated her spells. It is accessed from a descent called "Sentiero Marcello"

A truly magical place!

The Grotto of Tiberius is the most spectacular part of the Roman villa of Sperlonga. The enormous natural ravine is preceded by a large rectangular fish pond of sea water that housed an artificial island in the center that served as a summer caenatio, or the place where Tiberius and his court ate in the summer. The grotto was decorated with marble statues of enormous artistic value dedicated to the saga of Ulysses and sculpted by Greek artists from Rhodes. It is thought that these famous craftsmen stayed in the villa to finish the statues previously sketched in the workshop. The bottom of the grotto was decorated with frescoes and masonry works that divided the room into rooms and alcoves. Near the alcove, the remains of frescoes and decorations created with local shells and the spaces where the beds were probably placed are still visible. Above the external opening of the grotto there was the statue of a beautiful Ganymede kidnapped by the eagle Zeus. The fish pond communicates with the circular pool in the center of the cave where the sculptural group of the attack on the monster of Scylla, the most majestic of the four, stood out in a scenic position. Then there was the group of the blinding of Polyphemus, that of the abduction of the Palladium and that of Ulysses dragging the body of Achilles.

The Grotto of Tiberius A spectacular late Roman Republican villa. It overlooks a splendid sea and also houses the very rich National Archaeological Museum..... not to be missed, absolutely!

In 2004 some devotees restored the small cave above the spring, creating a testimony dedicated to the Madonna.