What is Sperlonga known for?

Roman imperial villa whose sea grotto held the Odyssey marbles, found in 1957 during construction of the coastal road. Lime-washed houses stacked on Monte San Magno, pedestrian-only centro storico, two Bandiera Blu beaches at its feet. Seven thousand marble fragments reassembled into four monumental groups, displayed in the Museo Archeologico on the villa grounds.

Sperlonga is a comune in the province of Latina, Lazio region of Italy, about 59 kilometers from Latina.

Lazio · Latina

Sperlonga

A whitewashed cliff town on Monte San Magno halfway between Rome and Naples, built above the sea grotto where Tiberius staged the Odyssey in marble.

59 km / 37 mi

Nearest hub (Latina)

3,050

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Sperlonga sits on the rocky spur of Monte San Magno, halfway between Rome and Naples on the Tyrrhenian coast. The Republican villa below the town was inherited by Tiberius, who reigned from 14 to 37 AD and made the place his retreat. In 1957, road crews building the coastal route between Terracina and Gaeta uncovered a sea grotto on the villa grounds. Inside lay seven thousand fragments of monumental marble sculpture: Odysseus blinding Polyphemus, the rape of the Palladium, Scylla devouring sailors. Reconstructed, the groups now fill the on-site Museo Archeologico Nazionale. The town above is pedestrianized, a maze of whitewashed stone houses, arches and stair-streets descending to two beaches: Levante and Ponente, both Bandiera Blu. The cliff color comes from a centuries-old habit of liming the walls against malaria and sun. Buffalo mozzarella country starts an hour south. Sperlonga is the last Lazio commune before the Campania border.

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Gallery

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Known for

Villa di Tiberio e Grotta
Imperial seaside villa with a natural grotto staged as a banqueting hall, where the marble Odyssey groups were unearthed in 1957.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale
On-site museum displaying the reconstructed Sperlonga sculptures, including Odysseus blinding Polyphemus and the Scylla group.
Centro storico
Pedestrian-only whitewashed old town on Monte San Magno, a maze of arches, stair-streets and lime-washed stone houses.
Spiaggia di Levante e Ponente
Two sand beaches flanking the headland, both holders of the Bandiera Blu, with the Torre Truglia jutting between them.
Torre Truglia
Sixteenth-century anti-corsair watchtower on the cliff promontory, rebuilt after Barbarossa's raid of 1534.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the season Sperlonga is built for: the beaches open, the boats run to the grotto, and the centro storico fills with day-trippers from Rome and Naples. June and September are the calmer bookends, mid-twenties, water warm enough to swim. July and August touch thirty-five and the two beaches fill by ten in the morning. October and April are quiet and mild, good for the villa and the Museo Archeologico without the queues. November through March many beachfront restaurants close. The Tyrrhenian wind off the gulf keeps winter cool but rarely below seven degrees.