Marcigliana Reserve

Located on the west side of the river Tiber, Marcigliana Reserve extends on a series of heights, bounded by Bufalotta Ditch at South and by Rio of Casale at North, that also marks the border of the municipality of Rome. The reserve shows a common and popular landscape of the Roman countryside. The main distinctive feature is given by low cultivated hills, wide meadows for grazing and holm oak groves often accompanied by maples and elms. With regards wildlife, you can easily spot hares, foxes, weasels, beech martens and porcupines. Moreover, big properties like Marcigliana and Tor. St. John are of great interest. They are dominated by ancient farmhouses (often built into the core of Roman villas) and by Medieval Towers. An example is Marcigliana House, medieval building built on the ruins of a Roman country home and today headquarter of the Park House, used to give hospitality to a Museum tour about country life and to a permanent exhibition on Crustumerium town. In fact, some archaeological surveys have identified in this area the place where was located a human settlement that was there already in the X – XI Century B.C., mainly made of huts. Conquered in 499 B.C., Crustumerium joined the Roman dominions but this caused a crisis and the inhabitants abandoned the town. Excavations made near the necropolis surrounding the town, have revealed many burial-places, each of them complete of objects like crockery with original shapes, enough to assume that this community developed an own craft. The Park itinerary includes the entrance to the necropolis, where visitors can learn how the burial objects were arranged inside the burial-places. The Park House shows few models concerning huts reconstruction.

Information
The Reserve is run by Roma Natura local Authority
Villa Mazzanti, via Gomenizza, 81 – 00195 Roma
Phone 06/35405310
Fax 06/35491519
www.romanatura.roma.it