(map) Sperlonga, Lazio
In 1957, an Italian engineer and amateur archaeologist named Erno Bellante was working on a road in the resort town of Sperlonga by the Tyrrhenian Sea, when he began digging inside the cavernous Grotto of Tiberius in his spare time and discovered more than he bargained for… a treasure trove of mangled marble statues crafted about the time of Christ.
The pieces were signed by Agesandro, Polidoro and Atandoro, the Roman artists who created the famous Laocoön located in the Vatican.
After the discovery, the locals of Sperlonga attempted to protect the marble fragments from invading archeologists by rolling a five-ton rock in front of the cave entrance and digging a surrounding moat!
Eventually academia triumphed and experts were allowed to collect the pieces and refurbish the statues to their original form for modern viewing pleasure. The sculptures, which depict scenes from the Odyssey as well as other mythical Greek scenes, can be viewed in the nearby National Archaeological Museum for a small entrance fee.
The Grotto itself is free to enter, and is located behind the Museum. The cave is a serene place to escape the heat and meditate upon Ancient Rome… and the ripples of the rock pool by your feet.
-- Contributed by Ian Zurzolo, writer, editor, American University of Rome Senior, Italian Notebook Editorial Intern.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:47 pm
What a lovely story, Ian! Thank you for it.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Thank you for sharing-lovely photos and information.
September 28th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Nice. Got any pictures of people?
October 5th, 2009 at 2:57 am
What a nice surprise to see the story about the Grotto of Tiberius. Back in the 1960s, my future husband and I, along with other expats living in Rome, fell in love with Sperlonga, where we escaped for weekends of camping on the beach and eating at Lo Squallo, a seafood joint right on the sand, halfway between the Grotto and the steps leading up to the village. Eventually, we opened a restaurant in Sperlonga called “La Savana,” with a grape-covered terrace, carved into the cliffs and a view of San Felice Circeo, where – legend has it – Ulysses first met Circe. The restaurant was open from April to October, plus a special Thanksgiving dinner for homesick Americans living in Italy. Your story brought back some wonderful memories! In fact, my husband has devoted a chapter on Sperlonga in his new book, “Memoirs of a Spaghetti Cowboy.”
November 20th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Ian thank you for the great fotos and info on what I believe to be one of the most glorious places in the world.My husband and I have a summer cottage about 20 mins away at La Fiora. We spend a lot of time in Sperlonga & when things get tough (I work in the Middle East), I just visualize that place and something clicks.