Travel
The Pontine Marshes
THOSE who travel from Rome to Naples by the new direct line opened a couple of years ago speed through a district seldom visited by the average tourist, Italian or foreign, but full of archaeological interest and rare natural beauty— the Pontine Marshes. It is a broad plain spreading out between the Monti Lepini and the Tyrrhenian sea, and bounded on the south by the bay of Terracina and the picturesque isolated Monte Circe°.
The Marshes lie very low—only a couple of metres above sea-level—and as many springs gush forth from the foot of the Lepini mountains and the various rivers crossing them overflow their banks in winter, a large part of the area is under water for several months each year. In summer malarious swamps are formed, while many parts suffer from drought. Thus for centuries this very fertile area has only produced Indian corn, which grows to a great height, while a large part serves as grazing ground for the herds of mighty grey-white long-horned cattle and rough shaggy horses of the once famous razza Pontina, tended by mounted herdsmen, who are among the finest horsemen in the world. Cultivation, such as it was, was carried on by peasants from the hill towns of the neighbouring Ciociaria or of the Lepini, who either slept in temporary huts or tramped many miles to and from their work ; in summer the Palude were almost uninhabited on account of malaria, but even with these precautions the dread disease infected many of the workers. Throughout the ages attempts have been made to reclaim the Marshes, and many drainage canals have been cut, by the Romans, the Popes, the Napoleonic Government, and that of United Italy. But the low level of the land made the flow of water sluggish and the rapid growth of rank vegetation obstructed the channels.
During the last few years schemes of a more systematic character have been devised and are now in operation. New canals have been cut, the water is sucked up by machinery and the canal bottoms mechanically dredged, roads are being built, and by means of artesian wells good water is extracted both for drinking and irrigation even in the driest seasons. Large tracts are now under intensive cultivation, and even the famous Gricilli swamp was, when I saw it last June, a waving sea of wheat. When the scheme is fully carried out the Marshes will be one of the most fertile agricultural areas in Italy.
Yet even agricultural improvement cannot destroy the wondrous beauty of this " never-ending fen," which when seen from the neighbouring hills is a veritable Persian carpet of different hues and patterns. The Marshes are separated from the sea by a belt of marvellous wild oak forest, the Selva di Terracina, where the wild boar may still be hunted ; in spring time its grassy glades are a mass of violets and cyclamen. Here and there are clearings, called lestre, where herdsmen from the mountains come down in the winter to graze their cattle and pigs. Beyond the forest is a range of sand. dunes and beyond the-se again the blue sea.
The Marshes are best approached from Priverno, on the main line, and from Terracina at the end of a little branch line. Priverno is a quaint mediaeval town, surrounded by picturesque turreted walls ; on the attractive piazza are the cathedral with its fine porch, supported on marble lions, the façade of the municipio pierced by Gothic two-light windows and other old buildings. The town dominates the fertile Amaseno plain, surrounded by several other hill towns. Terracina, the Anxur of the Volscians, is one of the most interesting towns in all Latium. The lower part along the shore is mostly modern, but contains many important Roman remains, while the upper town, which also contains several temples and a forum, is purely mediaeval in appearance. There is a very fine cathedral on the site of the temple of Rome and Augustus, approached by a porch with antique columns supported on mediaeval bases, while the façade is adorned by a rich mosaic frieze of Norman-Sicilian workmanship. The campanile is in the Romanesque style. There are many other picturesque buildings in the town, and the walls are in excellent preservation. Terracina is frequented in summer for sea-bathing, and is the centre of one of the most attractive of - industries, the growing of carnations, while its grapes are famous for their lusciousness. In both towns there are fair inns, especially at Terracina, but if a really good hotel were built at the latter place it should attract a large number of visitors at all seasons, on account of the mild climate.
[We publish on this page articles and notes which may help our readers in their plans for travel at home and abroad. They are written by correspondents who have visited the places deicribed. We shall be glad to answer queries arising out of the Travel articles published in our columns. Inquiries should be addressed to the Travel Manager, The SPECTATOR, 99 Gower Street, W.C. 1.—Ed. SPECTATOR.]
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