Small fort at Monticchio, on the side of the Circeo promontory, in the same area as the remains of the archaic temple of the same name and one of the historic alabaster quarries. The layering of archaeological, religious and military sites in this area shows the long and continuous human presence on the promontory, from pre-Roman times to modern fortifications.
The Circeo’s lookout and defence forts were strategically placed along the coast and on the heights. One of them stands on the Monticchio hill, not far from the Historic Centre. Built in the Middle Ages, it consists of a square structure with a turret. Only a few remains of the walls survive, along with a truncated-cone well, 6 metres deep and 1.5 metres in diameter, on an artificial clearing to the north-west.
In keeping with medieval building practice, this fortification was probably built on the remains of a Roman structure or, according to some, on the ancient archaic temple of the hill. This is supported by the rather careless building technique, due to the urgent need to build a lookout point here. Its task was to watch over the foothill road climbing from La Mola to the town. Because of their small size, like all the other forts (the Cretarossa fort, whose base survives, is a good example), they served only as lookouts, signalling attacks on the castle with smoke and fire, which is why they were also called “guardie” (guard posts). Like the other forts, it was probably destroyed by the troops of Alfonso of Aragon in 1441.
