The Salt-works

The salt-works, which have prehistoric origins, played an important role during the Etruscan and Roman periods. The barbarian incursions of the Middle Ages caused production activity to decline, but it was resumed from the 15th century onwards. The Papal State’s interest in the facility grew over time, reaching its peak at the beginning of the 19th century when an extension project was launched with the consultancy of G. Lipari. Work, which began in 1803, was suspended after a short time due to legal disputes and was only completed in 1831. In the following years, the salt-works reached a high level of production, to the point that they soon represented one of the pillars of papal finances. Until the middle of the 19th century, the labour force, exclusively made up of convicts from the nearby prison of Porto Clementino, was supplemented by external workers to optimise production. For this reason, it was necessary to construct public utility buildings in the northern part of the plant: a workers’ suburb in which the buildings, with different functions and stylistic characteristics were arranged along the central and side avenues, towards the manufacturing plant. These buildings included dwellings, a school, an administration and recreation centre, a warehouse and cellars, shops and taverns, an infirmary (1876-95); a workshop, a church and sacristy, a water tank, and a building for selected salts (1917- second half of the 20th century). After the Second World War, with the emergence of new, more profitable manufacturing processes, salt extraction in Tarquinia became uncompetitive on the market. Furthermore, following a flood, some of the tanks were unusable, so in 1987 the activity ceased permanently. Following a wide debate in both scientific and political circles on the reuse of the plant, the area, which had already been designated as a nature reserve subject to the constraint of the workers’ suburb, was partially transformed using European funding (the Project ‘Life’) into an environmental scientific research centre, by the University of Tuscia in Viterbo. The naturalistic oasis is managed by the State Forestry Corps.

The Beaches

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