The Lazio regional government on
Wednesday bought a large chunk of the storied Circeo promontory,
believed by the Romans to be the island of the sorceress Circe,
in order to "preserve an area of such environmental, historical
and archaeological value from possible desecration" by property
developers, officials said.
The sale was worth about 300,000 euros.
The area had been put up for sale by an estate agency.
Monte Circeo or Cape Circeo (Latin: Mons Circeius) is a mountain
remaining as a promontory that marks the southwestern limit of
the former Pontine Marshes.
The mountain, the coastal zone as far north as Latina, including
the only remaining remnant of the swamp, and two of the Pontine
Islands offshore, Zannone and Ponza, have been included in the
Circeo National Park.
The Circeo is a popular holiday resort, bristling with beach
clubs and nightspots, and many wealthy Romans and Italian VIPs
have villas there.
It is also home to the Emperor Domitian's villa and a cave where
a Neanderthal skull was found.
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