Cisterna di Latina (the Pontine Plains town 50km south of Rome, in the province of Latina) occupies a specific geographic position: it sits at the edge of the Agro Pontino (the Pontine Marshes, the coastal lowland between the Alban Hills and the Tyrrhenian coast that was notoriously malarial until Mussolini's reclamation program of 1932-1939 drained the marshes and created five new towns on the reclaimed land) and at the beginning of the buffalo mozzarella production zone that extends from here south through the Caserta province. The specific Cisterna di Latina interest for the food visitor: the town is surrounded by buffalo farms (allevamenti bufalini) that supply the milk for the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP, whose denomination covers Campania and the Pontine area of Lazio, where the water buffalo has been bred since the early medieval period. A buffalo farm visit from Cisterna di Latina, and there are several farms that accept visitors for guided tours and tastings, produces the most direct encounter with fresh mozzarella production available within day-trip distance of Rome.
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Cisterna di Latina: What to Know
The Caetani Castle
The Castello Caetani (the medieval fortified complex in the Cisterna di Latina historic center) was the principal residence of the Caetani family, the noble house whose most famous member, Pope Boniface VIII (Benedetto Caetani, 1294-1303), was the protagonist of the conflict with Philip IV of France that ended in the Schiaffo di Anagni. The castle in its current form dates primarily from the 14th-15th centuries and dominates the flat Pontine landscape from its modest hill position. Partially open for visits. Check comune.cisternadilat ina.lt.it for current opening hours.
Buffalo Farms and Mozzarella
The water buffalo of the Pontine Plains (the murrina, the specific Latina provincial term for the buffalo that roam the lowland farms on land reclaimed from the marshes) produce the milk for genuine mozzarella di bufala with the specific Lazio terroir. The Lazio mozzarella is slightly different from the Campania version, the Pontine pasture produces milk with a slightly different fat and protein profile than the Campania buffalo, which informed tasters can detect in the resulting mozzarella. Buffalo farm visits in the Cisterna di Latina area: several farms on the SP1 (Via Migliara) road accept advance bookings for guided tours of the farm and caseificio, with fresh mozzarella tasting at the end of the visit. Book directly with the individual farm. Prices approximately €15-25 per person including tasting.
Agro Pontino: The Fascist Reclamation Landscape
The five Pontine towns founded by Mussolini's bonifica (reclamation) program. Littoria (now Latina), Sabaudia, Pontinia, Aprilia, Pomezia, are the most complete surviving examples of Fascist new-town urbanism in Italy, each designed by a different team of Fascist rationalist architects and each with its own piazza, Casa del Fascio, church, and post office designed as a coherent civic identity. Sabaudia in particular (a 25-minute drive from Cisterna di Latina, on the edge of the Circeo National Park) is the finest of the five, the 1934 urban design by Cancellotti, Montuori, Muratori, and Scalpelli was recently restored and the town center is a compact, legible example of Fascist rationalist urbanism at its most aesthetically coherent.
Q&A: Cisterna di Latina
Can I buy mozzarella di bufala directly from the farm near Cisterna di Latina?
Yes, several farms in the Latina province sell directly at the farm gate (vendita diretta), typically 7am-12pm when the morning production is fresh. The morning production is the only time to buy and eat genuine fresh mozzarella, it is produced in the morning and best consumed within 6 hours of production, before the cheese begins to acidify. Mozzarella bought from a supermarket or even a good cheese shop has already lost the specific cream-and-milk freshness that makes fresh mozzarella the product it is. Buying at the farm gate and eating immediately (ideally still warm) is the only way to understand why the Campania and Lazio farmers refuse to eat the packaged version.
