The fissure in the rock and the olives of Gaeta
On a promontory jutting into the sea at the southern end of Lazio, Gaeta is a town with a long and glorious history, which was an independent maritime duchy in the early Middle Ages, a powerful fortress of the Kingdom of Naples, and the place where, in 1860–1861, King Francis II of Bourbon and Queen Maria Sophia resisted for three months the siege of the Piedmontese army, before the end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Its medieval quarter, Sant'Erasmo, with lanes and steps climbing towards the Angevin-Aragonese castle, preserves beautiful churches, such as the Cathedral with its Romanesque bell tower decorated with majolica, and the church of San Francesco, which dominates the town.
The most extraordinary place in Gaeta is the Montagna Spaccata, the "split mountain", on Monte Orlando: according to tradition, the rock cracked at the moment of Christ's death, opening three deep fissures that descend to the sea. Here stands the Sanctuary of the Santissima Trinità, and from it a staircase descends between the walls of the main fissure, through the "Cappella del Crocifisso", built on a boulder wedged between the rocks, to the sea, in a spectacular and moving setting. Along the stairs, a print in the rock is shown, the "Mano del Turco", which according to legend was left by an unbelieving sailor. Nearby, the Grotta del Turco, a sea cave, can be reached on foot. Gaeta is also famous for its olives, small and purple, and for the "tiella", a savoury pie filled with octopus, vegetables or fish.
Tip: walk down the staircase of the Montagna Spaccata to the sea; taste the tiella and the olives of Gaeta.
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