The promontory of the sorceress Circe
On the eastern slope of the Promontory of the Circeo, which rises solitary from the sea like an island, between the Pontine plain and the Tyrrhenian, San Felice Circeo is a charming seaside village, with a small medieval historic centre on a hill, white houses, lanes and squares with views over the sea and the Pontine Islands. According to legend, the promontory was the home of the sorceress Circe, daughter of the Sun, who in Homer's Odyssey transformed the companions of Ulysses into pigs and held the hero with her for a year; it is said that, seen from the sea, the profile of the mountain recalls the face of a sleeping woman, the sorceress herself. In the historic centre stands the Torre dei Templari, a medieval tower linked to the presence of the Knights Templar, and the Palazzo Baronale.
The promontory is rich in caves carved by the sea, many of which can be explored by boat, such as the Grotta delle Capre and the Grotta Azzurra, and is famous for an exceptional prehistoric discovery: in the Grotta Guattari, in 1939, a well-preserved Neanderthal skull was found, and in 2021 new excavations brought to light the remains of other Neanderthal individuals, making it one of the most important sites in Europe for the study of these ancient humans. The coast of San Felice offers beaches of fine sand, such as those of Quarto Caldo and Torre Paola, at the foot of the promontory, and rocky coves with clear water, and the tourist port is the starting point for boat trips to the Pontine Islands.
Tip: take a boat tour of the caves of the promontory; watch the sunset over the sea from the belvedere of the historic centre.
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