Gaeta: enchanting scenery of a mediaeval beauty

There is side entrance for visitors (look for a yellow sign) with a bell. The nuns will show you the church and the Golden Chapel. The nuns are there and they will show you the church and the Golden Chapel. They do not charge the entrance but accept offers and tips. If you leave the church from the same side door, look directly across the street for steps nearby. Up the steps it is written ‘Salita Annunziata’, a road which climbs up in the mediaeval district up the Castle.

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  Gaeta’s port, one of the many
             sunny days

Not far away the interesting neo-gothic style of the Church of San Francesco (San Francis) built in the form of a Latin cross with a nave and two aisles. The church offers a lovely view of Gaeta and church itself is a peaceful sight when lighted at night. The mediaeval district lies at the end of Lungomare Caboto (the long marina’s seafront) on the site of a Roman castrum (castrum means an old settlement), was first recognised as a civitas (in ancient Latin means city or town) in the 9th century AD at the time when Gaeta was ruled by the dukedom formed by Roman-Byzanthine alliance. The ruins of the ducal palace of Docibilis I, who initially allied with the Saracen, are located in this part of Gaeta as well as the other remains of the ducal palace of John I who instead defeated the Saracen in the memorable Battle of Garigliano in 915 AD. Both ruins date from this and date back to the peak of the town economic and political golden age.

The end of the successful but short-lived dukedom was marked by the Norman conquest in 1140 AD, even though its administrative structure was in still place for many years later after.The mediaeval Gaeta was further fortified and enriched during the middle of the 17th century with neo-gothic restoration of the Church of San Francesco. This church is built in the form of a Latin cross with a nave and two aisles. Its particular location offers a nice view of Gaeta. San Francesco’s Church becomes a very picturesque sight when lighted at night from the Piazza G. Caboto. This church is opened only during church services in the morning about 7:00 am and in the evening about 1800 or on Sunday. From here one of most ancient roads in Gaeta leads up to the castle, the indomitable double fortress. Strong and solid, located in a position of absolute dominion there is Gaeta’s Anjou-Aragonese Fortress, two castles in one. The castle dominates the whole medieval center and its rough rocky sides seem to arise abruptly from the sea. Its origins are not certain and are surrounded by an aura of mystery.

What is sure is that the fortress has a long history to recount and it was probably there as a fortified citadel since Gaeta’s oldest settlement was established as urban nucleus. Nevertheless, the oldest traceable historical documentation proving the castle’s presence dates back around 9th century. The fortification was probably a reaction of the local noble families to the frequent raids of Saracen pirates. Certified history attests that the castle had a sure development in the Norman Age and in the Suevian Age and that, apparently Pope Gregorio IX ordered its destruction in 1229. It was then rebuilt under the Angevin dynasty.

The upper part has a rectangular shape and a cylindrical tower in three of its angles overlooking the sea in different directions. Today the imposing stronghold can be divided into an upper with Aragonese Castle and a lower part with the Anjevin Castle. The lower part has an irregular shape located toward the medieval quarter and Monte Orlando. The fortress became a royal residence with Alfonso of Aragona in 1436-42. Under his reign the fortress underwent few other transformations. The long presence of the Spanish in the Tyrrhenian town reinforced the shift of Gaeta’s role from a commercial center towards a military town throughout important defensive fortifications added to the fortress by Carlo V (1538). Among the several shifts of power the Austrians succeeded to the Spanish and in 1734 was the time of Carlo of Bourbon, the founder of the new Neapolitan Bourbon dynasty. Once again the fortifications and the various defense installations had a significant role in Gaeta urban layout. During the long Bourbon period there have been many sieges (1799, 1806 and 1815).

Gaeta scored again in the Italian history events when on the 25th of November 1848, the Pope Pius IX found refuge here when escaping from Rome because of the proclamation of the Republic; from now on and for few years Gaeta assumed the role of ‘second’ Papal State after Rome until the 4th of September 1849. The Bourbon dynasty ended on the 13th of February 1861 under the ancient walls of Gaeta and this event gave birth to the unity of Italy as a nation. After years in which the castle was turned into a prison. There has been a renovation done in 1997 but the ancient castle is still not open to the public. Today it is used for special classes for the military. Maybe one day the fortress will be back to the town and its people but still today one can just imagine the views of Gaeta and the gulf from the fortress ancient windows.