Circeo National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale del Circeo) is an Italian national park created in 1934. It covers a narrow coastal area from Anzio to Terracina, including part of the forest on the mainland near San Felice Circeo and the island of Zannone.

The park was established by order of Benito Mussolini, with advice from Senator Raffaele Bastianelli, to protect the last remaining parts of the Pontine Marshes, which were being drained during that time. It is the only national park in Italy that covers only flat land and coastal areas. The park extends from approximately Pontinia in the north to Sabaudia in the south.

Territory

The park is divided into five main habitats: the forest, the promontory, the littoral dune, the humid area, and the island of Zannone.

The forest inside the park is located in a roughly square area between the SS 148 Pontina state road and the coast of San Felice Circeo. It is the last remaining part of the ancient "Selva di Terracina," which once covered much of what is now the central province of Latina. Today, the forest covers about 3,300 hectares and is the largest plain forest in Italy.

This forest has temporary pools called "piscine," which form in autumn from rainwater, and areas called "lestre," where people used to live. The vegetation includes shrubland, trees like Turkish oak, fraxinus, and common oak, as well as Mediterranean trees such as holm oak, bay laurel, and cork oak.

The forest floor has many plants, including common hawthorn, blackthorn, wild apple, pear, strawberry trees, erica, and Ruscus aculeatus.

The forest supports many animals, such as wild boar, fallow deer, hare, European badger, red fox, weasel, green whip snake, Natrix maura, land and marsh tortoises, newts, toads, and frogs.

The promontory of Circeo, which reaches a height of 541 meters, is a rocky mountain made of limestone and dolomite. It gives the park its name.

The promontory has two main areas. The northern slopes are wetter and covered with holly oak shrubland. At lower levels, this is mixed with manna ash, Ostrya carpinifolia, downy oak, and Italian oak. The forest floor includes erica, broom, and strawberry trees. Near the base, there is a 25-hectare cork oak forest. The southern slopes are drier and have Mediterranean rock plants like holm oak, Phoenician juniper, euphorbia, myrtle, Pistacia lentiscus, rosemary, and erica. Lower plants include rock samphire, Helichrysum, and Centaurea.

Wildlife here includes European badgers, wild boar, beech martens, peregrine falcons, and common kestrels.

The park has several coastal caves, including Grotta Guattari, where a Neanderthal skull was found in 1939, Goats Cave, Impiso Cave, Grotta del Fossellone, and Grotta Breuil, which was also inhabited by Neanderthals.

A 22-kilometer-long coastal sand strip runs from the limestone cliffs of Mount Circeo near Torre Paola watchtower to Capo Portiere. The sand is fine and backed by shrubland up to 27 meters deep. Near the sea, short plants grow, supporting small animals like European badgers, foxes, lizards, and beetles.

Farther inland, taller plants like prickly juniper, mastic, maritime pine, holm oak, alder, fraxinus, poplar, and willow grow. Near lakes, alder, fraxinus, poplar, and willow are also found.

The humid area includes four coastal salt lakes: Paola, Caprolace, Monaci, and Fogliano. These lakes are remnants of the Pontine Marshes and are home to many aquatic birds, such as cattle egrets, cranes, geese, northern lapwings, skylarks, and curlews. Rare species like the marsh turtle also live here. The lakes are up to two meters deep and connected to the sea by canals.

Other animals in the area include badgers, wild boar, foxes, crested porcupines, wild weasels, and European hedgehogs. Plants along the lake shores include salicornia, inula, and tamarisk.

In addition to the lakes, smaller wet areas exist where Italian Mediterranean buffalo herding takes place.

Zannone is a small island in the Ponziano archipelago, added to the park in 1979. It is uninhabited and covered with oak and holm oak forests. It is the only island in the archipelago that still has its original vegetation. Plants include strawflower, mastic, myrtle, common broom, erica, euphorbia, strawberry trees, and bay laurel.