Villa del Peretto
An ancient farm
The villa occupies an artificial flat area, 180 m a.s.l. by the hill of the same name (Colle del Peretto), on a rectangular platform measuring roughly 120x170m.
The structure was built by laying medium-sized stones without using any binder, and was used both as habitation and farm: this use must have been prevalent in the area until the last century. It is not clear how ancient the work is: maybe it was built during the cadastre parcelling of the 19th century. However, ancient building materials (fragments of bricks and shingles, traces of mortar, etc.) were found all around the area, and may suggest that the original Roman building was re-used in the period of agricultural exploitation of the area, meaning that, even if the building is not very ancient, the settlement probably is. There had to be many structures on the platform, but only a few remnants are visible today: two cisterns and a stretch of very rough “opus incertum” wall.
Villa del Peretto
(photo by Archivio Parco Nazionale del Circeo)
Villa del Peretto
(photo by Archivio Parco Nazionale del Circeo)
