Uncover the city’s living history. Rione maps Rome’s ancient quarters dynamically — unlocking subterranean layers, hidden stories and local secrets right where you stand.
Dynamic, interactive boundaries of all of Rome’s historical rioni, colour-coded and tappable.
Every monument with photos, history and the stories beneath the stones.
Rising directly from the shore, this is one of the great image-postcards of the Lazio coast: a compact medieval castle, with a round watchtower and crenellated walls, standing with its feet almost in the sea. Built from the 14th century over far older foundations, it guarded this stretch of coast against pirates and raiders.
The castle stands on a wide beach of dark volcanic sand, and the combination — turreted walls, open sea, black shore — is unique on this coast. You can swim with the medieval ramparts as your backdrop, which makes Santa Severa as much a bathing destination as a monument.
Long before the castle, this was Pyrgi, the seaport of the powerful Etruscan city of Caere (modern Cerveteri). Excavations beside the castle have revealed the remains of its sanctuary and, most famously, the Pyrgi Tablets — gold sheets inscribed in both Etruscan and Phoenician that are among the most important documents of the Etruscan language.