Polygonal walls - Santa Marinella
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The presence of a circuit of polygonal walls that rise out of the plain of the countryside, only partially incorporated in the perimeter walls of the Renaissance village of Santa Severa (in the Municipality of Santa Marinella), ever since the 17th C. has led scholars to believe that this is the site of the ancient Prygi, which stood in the very same location as Santa Severa Castle.
The problem with dating structures made out of large polygonal blocks has always engrossed archaeologists, even though many recognised it as being an extremely ancient circuit, even to be attributed to a pre-Roman settlement, set up by the founders of the sanctuary in the sacred area of Pyrgi.
After many hypotheses have been proferred over the years, the archaeological map of the area published in 1957 by Castagnoli and Cozza, offered a diachronic view of the site for the first time, finally suggesting the relationship between the rectangle of the polygonal circuit, that can be associated with the maritime Roman colony (264 b.c.) and the Etruscan settlement, further extended to the south. At the time, the knowledge of the colony’s circuit was limited to the Eastern, Northern, South-Eastern and North-Western sides and to the position of their respective gates.
As far as the South – Western side, facing the sea, the mapping of the seabed carried out in 1974 enabled to record on the map the strongly oblique direction in the vicinity of the southern most corner; this fact was put in relation to the presence of polyhedral blocks of sandstone cemented at the foot of the large retaining wall which supports the Spianata dei Signori (The Lord’s Plain), that had been reused, but were nevertheless useful in indicating that the walls had passed through the vicinity.
These elements enabled J.B. Brandt to present a first very specific idea of a reconstruction of the layout of the circuit of polygonal walls and, in 1988, with the identification, on behalf of B. Frau, of a further stretch of walls, incorporated in the Medieval and Renaissance structures of the Castle, and particularly in the Woodshed, the path of the wall was marked out with even greater accuracy.
The walls are of varying widths, built out of local sandstone, and enclose a total surface area of 5.5 hectares: a considerable space, more than double that encompassed by the walls of the maritime colonies of Ostia and Minturno, for example. The remains on the sea facing side that are more significant and can be easily examined are those accessible through the underground premises of the Woodshed, which can be reached via a trap door.
The diversification of building techniques used and the kind of finishing applied to the surfaces, effectively illustrates the two-fold purpose of the wall: on the inside the wall is only roughly hewn, and leans against the landfill behind acting as a buttress; while on the side facing outwards, the wall surface is plumb vertical, smooth and compact, increasing the defensive effectiveness of the resulting height differential.
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