Torre Astura
Description
Torre Astura—once the island of Astura and now a peninsula in Nettuno—lies at the southeast end of the Bay of Antium on the road to Circeii. The name refers to the site, its medieval coastal tower, and the river that flows from the Alban Hills to the sea nearby. Known to Strabo as Storas, the river had an anchorage at its mouth and was the scene of the decisive Roman victory over the Latins in 338 BC.
In later centuries the coast and the small island became lined with Roman villas, including Cicero’s famous seaside retreat, where he mourned his daughter and from which he attempted to flee after his proscription. Augustus and Tiberius also visited, though both reportedly fell ill there. Remains show that many aristocrats owned villas along this stretch of coast, though evidence for a town named Astura is uncertain.
The island was eventually linked to the mainland by a causeway and is crowned by the medieval Torre di Astura, built on a vast Roman villa complex with a small harbour. The fortress, built in 1268, later passed to the Caetani, Orsini, and Colonna, and ruins behind the dunes may mark the old channel separating island from shore and a post-station on the Via Severiana.