スペルロンガの天然記念物・トップ10

it's OK

An incredible place for glimpses and lights

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!

staircase of the cave of the Turk

Very easy hike with fantastic views!

Surprisingly cool place to hike or walk to!

In the mountain there are three crevices in the rock, with a long staircase leading into the deepest central crevice and to the so-called 'Grotta del Turco'. This gash in the mountain, this enormous wound in the earth, was formed, according to the Christian tradition, immediately after the death of Jesus Christ. Proof of this is the mythical 'Hand of the Turk', an imprint left centuries ago in the rock (the shape of a hand, with five fingers), which would have been formed when a disbelieving Turkish sailor ( did not believe in the divine origin of the cracks in the mountain) he leaned with his right hand and the stone became soft under his pressure.