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Monte
Orlando Regional Park
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Ancient
access to the fortified town
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S.Francesco's Cathedral
view
from the harbor
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Angioino
Aragonese Castle
view
from the medieval district
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Monte Orlando Regional Park
gun
powder storage
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Monte
Orlando Regional Park
naturalistic
trial
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 Among
the most interesting areas of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Gaeta has an ancient
touring vocation. It tells the tale, maintained by Virgilio's poem, that
on these beaches Caieta, Enea's nurse, was buried. Gaeta's
origin is therefore antecedent that of Rome, but the first certain facts
on the existence of an urban community trace back to the first conquests
of Southern Lazio on behalf of the Romans, who made of it a very great
touring centre.
 Mansions
and mausoleums (a famous one is that of Lucio Munazio Planco) testify the
splendor of that period. In medieval ages, particularly in the tenth century,
the Dukedom of Gaeta reached a remarkable prosperity; the wonderful Sant'Erasmo
bell tower ( XII century) and the Cathedral (consecrated in 110) are real
architectural pearls. Among the numerous churches of Byzantine, Romanesque
and Gothic origins, we can piont out those of San Giovanni a Mare,
Santa Lucia and Santa Caterina. The Castle, however, built between the
IX and the XVI century, is the most imposing building of the ancient centre.
It represents, physically and symbolically, the role of fortress engaged
by the town towards the Kingdom of Naples, whose history Gaeta will be
bind to in the course of the centuries until the famous episode of the
Piedmontese Siege ended on 13th February 1861 with the falling of
the Bourbons' Dynasty.
Today,
between the ancient centre of S. Erasmo and the wonderful Serapo beach
- considered a pearl of the Mediterranean - there is the naturalistic park
of Monte Orlando: 53 hectares of vegetation in an uncontaminated environment,
among the most fascinating of the Latium coast.
 From
the overhanging walls on the sea, the lucky visitor can enjoy a vast and
enchanting view, which wanders from the Pontine Islands to the Promontory
of Circeo, from the Aurunci Mountains to the Vesuvio and to the Gulf of
Naples. The very rich artistic patrimony of Gaeta is completed by the numerous
pictorial works gathered in the Diocesan Museum, in the Picture-gallery
of Palazzo De Vio (with works of Giovanni from Gaeta, Luca Giordano and
Sebastiano Conca), and in the various churches of the town. To be mentioned,
among these, the grand Church of S. Francesco, always visible from the
land and from the sea, interesting example of Neo-gothic architecture
commissioned by Ferdinand II of Bourbon in 1849 on invitation of Pio X,
exiled in Gaeta.
Today,
a great liveliness of tourist initiatives are related to the prestigious
past which make this laughing town the ideal place for a holiday
suitable for the public of every age and demand. |
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