Gaeta (LT) stands on the promontory of Monte Orlando at the extreme edge of the Monti Aurunci range, in the gulf of Gaeta on the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 90km from Naples and 120km from Rome. Varying traditions attribute its name to Caieta, the nursemaid of Aeneas (Virgil’s Aeneid, book VII); Eeta, the father of Medea or to a derivation of kaiétas or coastal cave or cavity, as Strabo posited.
Crowded with imperial and noble villas in the Roman era, it first belonged to the Eastern Empire and was then taken from the Saracens by the fleets of Naples and Amalfi (846) during the Middle Ages. During the 13th and 14th centuries it fell under the rule of Frederick II, Charles of Anjou and Ladislaus of Naples. From Aragonese dominion in the 1400s, it passed to the Spanish crown where it remained, during both Hapsburg and Bourbon dynasties, until the 19th century.
This was the departure point for the ships commanded by Marcantonio Colonna who sailed off to fight the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lepanto on 24 June 1571.
Historical and architectural features of the city include the medieval Cathedral of Saints Erasmus and Marciano which was restored in the neo Classical style in the 18th century but retains the original 12th century bell tower and a remarkable 13th century paschal candle with stories of Christ and St. Erasmus; the 13th century Church of St. Francis, the 14th century Church of the Most Holy Annunciation and the gorgeous little 10th century Church of San Giovanni a Mare, with its beautiful Arabic cupola.
Roma Lazio Film Commission
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Phone: +39 06 72286273/320
Fax: +39 06 722 1127
Email: info@romalaziofilmcommission.it
