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Oasi di Porto – a true natural reservoir – can be found around Lake Traiano, over 81 acres of land. It’s a historical area, but most of all the perfect place where to observe many different migratory waterbirds like ducks, great crested grebes, great cormorants, seagulls, grey herons, black-winged stilts, and common terns.

Roman Emperor Traiano built a port here, an impressive structure that features harbor facilities, houses, and sacred buildings. After the fall of the Roman Empire, and the barbarian invasions, this area lost its commercial value and, eventually abandoned, was swamped by the waters into unhealthy marshlands, plagued by malaria.

Further reclamation eventually redeemed the territory, letting it regain the strong productive and commercial value, thus also becoming a naturalistic area suitable for walks and tours. The oasis can be visited by horse-drawn carts which wouldn’t impact the wild fauna. Amongst flowering shrubs, many migratory birds, and fallow deers can be seen. Local flora features oak trees (Quercus spp.), plane trees (Platanus spp.), pine trees (Pinus spp.), ashes (Fraxinus spp.), evergreen oaks (Quercus ilex), and eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp.).

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)