Riserva Naturale delle Saline di Tarquinia

The Saline di Tarquinia reserve preserves a coastal landscape shaped by salt production. Shallow basins, separating banks and channels form an artificial wetland whose ecological importance outlasted its industrial use.

Why it matters

Protected as a nature reserve in 1980, the site provides habitats for migratory and resident birds along the Tyrrhenian coast. Its value lies in the relationship between human-made water systems and the salt-tolerant communities they support.

What to notice

The geometric basins contrast with coastal dunes, reeds and low vegetation. Differences in salinity create distinct conditions across the wetland. Embankments and channels remain essential elements of this managed landscape, while the former workers' village records the social history of the salt industry.

Context and history

Salt extraction in the area has ancient roots, but the modern works developed through nineteenth-century investment by the Papal State. Their history included convict labour and the later growth of a workers' settlement. Flooding damaged the basins in 1987; after declining production, the works closed definitively in 1997. Ecological restoration in the early twenty-first century repaired basins and channels to help maintain water circulation and the reserve's lagoon habitats.