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Lazio - About the City
La Riviera d'Ulisse
GAETA
Gaeta is a small Italian town, located just south of Rome en route to Naples, facing one of the most beautiful gulfs of Italy. Gaeta lies on a pictoresque peninsula over the Tyrrean sea and its strategic position and magic environment has made Gaeta a secure harbor since the time of the Roman Empire. Its coast was described by many ancient poets, like Homer and Virgil. This is the reason why the coast around Gaeta is called the "Ulysses riviera". The golden beaches and many coves, scattered all over the coast, make of Gaeta a marvelous place to relax. The old town with its enchanting promenades and picturesque alleys, the Angioino Aragonese Castle and the town's many beautiful buildings, make Gaeta famous for culture and history. It is also the perfect starting point to explore the most loved southern Italy's treasures as Pompei, Herculaneum, Capri, Pontine islands, Caserta Palace, Montecassino Abbey, Pastena caves and the adjacent wilderness parks of Monte Orlando, Circeo and Gianola. You can reach Gaeta by train from Rome or Naples, directed to Formia that is the nearest train station to Gaeta. From Formia you are only 10 minutes from Gaeta.
As you travel from Sperlongato Gaeta, the coastline offers a magnificent variety of beaches, bays, sand and shingle: this is probably the stretch of coast in which Nature has done its utmost to create as many different sights as possible. There is the long beach of S.Agostino, the S.Agostino promontory, the little S.Vito creek complete with the hotels, and the beach of Arenauta, the Torre Scissura promontory and yet another Ariana beach and the Torre Viola promontory. Then you come to cliffs bathed in the sea, and finally the curved Serapo beach in a residential area complete with villas, chalets, hotels, restaurants and beach facilities for bathers.Monte Oralndo(that is a natural park) overlooks the sea, with its grassy slopes bathed in the water: Montagna Spaccata is a great cleft rock face with a sheer drop to the coastline below, and nearby is the Grotta of Turco.
FORMIA
Formia is located near the Aurunci Mounts, running from the elegant Vendicio beach as far as the green Giànola promontory. The town has been popular with visitors ever since Roman times:in fact, the Romans have left behind a great deal of evidence of their interest in the area, with ruins of great deal of evidence of their interest in the area, with ruins of villas whose decorative statues are now kept in the Museo Nazionale in Naples, the Tomb of Cicero, the fishing boats in the harbour, the little Caposele port, the Nerva walls and the remains of the ancient acqueduct.
SPERLONGA
Thereare many attractions that have given Sperlonga its charm as a resort for tourist:
the magnificent Canzatora beaches to the west, and the Angolo, Bazzano and Bambole beaches to the east; the hills which run straight down to sea; the quait, charming town centre, with its narrow winding street, workshop, rustic houses, stepped-street, and little nooks connected with the former fortifications - the towers on the coast at Truglia and Capovento - the archaeological findings at the Antro di Tiberio which are kept in the National Museum nearby - and then the whole series of grottoes along the coast with the famous Blue Grotto.
TERRACINA
Slightly more than 100 Kilometres from Rome and 120 Km from Naples, Terracina lies on about fifteen Km of coastline, along the wide gulf marked off by the Circeo and Gaeta promontories. A visual summary of the history of Terracina is afforded by the present-day main plaza, Piazza del Municipio, which has sections of the ancient Roman Appian Way, the Republican Age (or Emilian) Forum with its original pavement, traces of Roman theatre, and the capitolium. The Middle Age is represented by the splendid Cathedral, dedicated to the patron saint Cesareo, Palazzo Venditti, the Torre dei Rosa, now the Civic Museum, and Castello Frangipane. Nearby are the 18th century Palazzo Braschi and Palazzo della Bonifica, and the modern section with the Municipio, the town hall.
Other monuments in the old city are the Chiesa del Purgatorio and the Church of San Giovanni. By taking a short walk in the old town you will discover characteristic shops and establishments, including small wineries, with history everywhere around you. Piazza del Municipio also offers a view of the two symbols of Terracina, the sea and the Temple of Jupiter Anxur. The latter was part of the monumental complex of the ancient acropolis, situated on the top of Monte S. Angelo, which affords a breathtaking view of the entire gulf and the Pontine Islands; indeed, on especially clear days you can see the jewels of Campania, the islands of Ischia and Capri. Terracina is a beautiful tourist city: the long sand bank with bathing establishments, parks, hotels and villas and apartments for rent; the colourful fishermen's port-canal and two basins for pleasure-craft, and the arm of the port where the ships depart for Ponza (in the summer) and for Ventotene.
Along the eastern and western coastline, a few Km from town, there are many campgrounds and some small bathing establishments. Those who enjoy the countryside as well as the sea need only venture a few miles into the interior to reach two interesting places: the hilly valley of Campo Soriano and the Madonnina di Monte Leano, which overlooks the Pontine Marshes plain.
PONZA
Ponza is the largest of the islands, 5 miles in length and from 650 ft to one mile in width, and reaches a maximum altitude at Monte della Guardia of 1090 ft. Its outline is varied andb broken, with an exceptional series of bays, inlets; the rock formation shows great variety of shapes and colours, seen in the volcanic layers which are predominantly, limestone and trachyte.
The local people have christened the various places with the most colourful names. Starting from the northeastern spur called Punta dell' Incenso (Incense Point) and continuing southward one travels through some enchanting places: the small Isle of Gavi, Gala Gaetano, Ravia di Aniello Antonio, Punta Nera, Gala d'Inferno. Gala del Core with its typical Scoglio Spaccapolpi or Calzone del Parroco, Punta Bianca, Gala di Frontone, S. Maria, Giancos, down to the shipping lane.
This is protected to the east by the Punta della Madonna (with the nearby cliffs), under which lie the Pilatus Caves where the ancient Romans bred Muraena fish, and which have given birth to many picturesque local legends. Continuing the tour, one passes the Calzone Muto Cliffs, the Punta della Guardia with its lighthouse, Punta del Fieno, the Punta Bianca and so on: the Maria Rosa Cliffs, Capo Bosco, Gala Feola, Gala dell'Acqua, Punta del Papa, Gala Fontana, Punta Beppe Antonio, and finally Gala Caparra. The main town comprises two nuclei: Ponza itself which is built up around the port, and Le Forna, 5 miles away by road, with their actractive low, whitewashed houses affording a typical architectural unity. The port is a small amphitheatre designed by the architect Winspeare in Bourbon times.
SAN FELICE CIRCEO
San Felice Circeo forms a splendid environmental sinthesis: the promontory with the Quarto Freddo, the Faro and Quarto Caldo zones; the antique and charming town, the small square with its 13th century tower which belonged to the Templari, the Palazzo and the characteristic streets; the residential area featuring mediterranean architecture, all make the Circeo the most renowned and appreciated seaside resort in Lazio.
From the panoramic roads of the Faro and the Crocette on the Promontory you can admire the plains and the sea, as far as the nearby Ponziane islands. From the Crocetta you can reach the Acropoli of antique Circeji (probably of Greek origin).
The real delight of Circeo are the rocks which face the crystal clear sea; not forgetting the 43 caves including those of the Sorceress Circe, Presepio, The Blue cave, the Capre, Fossellone, Impiso, the Spaccata cave and the suggestive towers of Paola, Fico, Cervia, Vittoria, Olevola, which according to leggend was the home of the Sorceress Circe who transformed Ulysses' men into swine.
