Torre Astura — Attraction in Nettuno

Torre Astura, formerly an island called by the ancients merely Astura, is now a peninsula in the comune of Nettuno, on the coast of Latium, Italy, at the southeast extremity of the Bay of Antium, on the road to Circeo. To reach it you have to park in a military area and then either walk for 20 minutes or take a small boat that will take there. The name also belongs to a medieval coastal tower in the same site, as well as to the river which rises at the southern foot of the Alban Hills, and has a course of about 33 km before flowing into the sea immediately to the southeast.

It was called Storas by Strabo, who tells us that it had a place of anchorage at its mouth. It was on the banks of this obscure stream that was fought, in 338 BCE, the last great battle between the Romans and the Latins, in which the consul Gaius Maenius totally defeated the combined forces of Antium, Lanuvium, Aricia and Velitrae. At a much later period the little island at its mouth, and the whole adjacent coast, became occupied with Roman villas; among which the most celebrated is that of Cicero, to which he repeatedly alludes in his letters, and which he describes as locus amoenus et in maria ipso, commanding a view both of Antium and Circeii, and to which he retired on the death of his daughter Tullia in 45 BCE. It was from thence that, on learning his proscription by the triumvirs, he embarked, with the intention of escaping to join Brutus in Macedonia; a resolution which he afterwards abandoned. We learn from Suetonius also that Astura was the occasional resort both of Augustus and Tiberius, but due to its unhealthy climate, both Augustus and Tiberius contracted here the illnesses which proved fatal to them. Existing remains show that many of the Roman nobility must have had villas there. There is scholarly conflict as to whether there was a town of the name, as asserted by Servius. Up to at least the early 20th century, the remains of only one villa had been found on the island itself, but along the coast c. 1.5 km to the north-west a line of villas begins, which continues as far as Antium. To the south-east, on the other hand, remains are almost entirely absent, and this portion of the coast seems to have been sparsely populated in Roman times.

The island was at some time or other joined to the mainland by a bridge or causeway, and it thus became, as it now remains, a peninsula projecting into the sea. It is surmounted by a fortified tower, called the Torre di Astura, a picturesque object, conspicuous both from Antium and the Circeian headland, and the only one which breaks the monotony of the low and sandy coast between them.[citation needed] The medieval castle of the Frangipani family, in which Conradin vainly sought refuge after the battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268, is built upon the foundations of a very large villa, of opus reticulatum with later additions in brickwork, and with a small harbour attached to it on the south-east. The castle was later a fief of the Caetani, the Orsini and the Colonna. The island seems to have existed as such in the time of Pope...

Uno dei posti più belli del Lazio. Cosa dire, da 35 anni vado a Torre Astura e posso raccontarvi tutto. 35 anni fa era un luogo sconosciuto. Entravamo attraverso un buco nella rete della recinzione del poligono e di nascosto per 2,5 km a piedi raggiungevamo le spiagge. La prima quella a sinistra del castello ovvero quella alla foce del fiume Astura, è sempre stata pessima, ma quelle delle ansette delle mura del castello e tutta la spiaggia che dal castello va verso Nettuno, era meravigliosa!!! Acqua cristallina e spiaggia incontaminata se non per la presenza di qualche innocuo bunker in cemento. Spiaggia di grani di sabbia rossi misti a conchiglie meravigliose.... Solitudine e pace. Di tanto in tanto, le pattuglie dell'esercito ci buttavano fuori perché zona militare. Oggi nel 2019, non bisogna più entrare di nascosto, c'è un comodo parcheggio gratuito. Bisogna sempre camminare per 2.5 km ma la passeggiata che finisce in una pineta secolare è piacevolissima. In alternativa c'è Caronte che per pochi soldi vi traghetta lungo il fiume Astura fino alla foce e vi risparmiate circa metà strada a piedi. Il castello purtroppo, in assenza di manutenzione, si sta rapidamente deteriorando e chissà quanto ancora durerà.... Il mare è ancora splendido. Forse per trasparenza, nel Lazio è secondo solo a Ponza, sicuramente prima di Sperlonga e Sabaudia. La spiaggia ormai è affollata e la sabbia rossa è diventata anche un po' nera e piena di detriti ma si sopravvive... Insomma se sopportate la camminata, è ancora un posto meraviglioso, sicuramente da visitare. Dimenticavo, almeno di giorno, le pattuglie dell'esercito non...

One of my favourite places to spend a day on the beach without moving too far from Rome (about 1 hour and half by car). From the main parking, in order to reach the tower, simply keep right and walk through all that beautiful Mediterranean vegetation, that also gives you a stunning view on the sea. Also, if the weather is good enough, you might be able to see Circeo, an island that lays not so far from this location. I definitively suggest that you spend the entire day here but keep in mind that the free parking closes at...