Gaeta

Gaeta, Italy - a walk around the city

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• published: 28 Sep 2013
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SEE MY HISTORY GROUP ON FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alan-Heaths-History-Page/173472422695696 Gaeta is a town between Naples and Rome, formerly a strong point situated on the slopes of the Torre di Orlando, a peninsula overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Its location means that it has been inhabited since ancient times. The name Gaeta (Caieta) is mentioned in Virgil's Aeneid where Caieta was Aeneas' wet-nurse, whom he buried here. Even in Roman times, it would appear that Gaeta was a tourist resort where many of the wealthy of the capital would have villas. It was connected to Rome via the Via Appia which I use in my journey towards Rome - nearly 2,000 years later! In the Byzantine and later medieval period it traded with the eastern Mediterranean. It became part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and owing to its important strategic position, was often attacked. The magnificent castle we can see in this film dates from this period and as can be seen is still in use today! There have been many battles and sieges but the one to which I refer to in the film is the siege of 1860 when it was the scene of the last stand of Francis II of the Two Sicilies against the forces of nationalist Italy. The king offered a stubborn defense, shut up in the fortress with 12,000 men and inspired by the heroic example of Queen Maria Sophie after Garibaldi's occupation of Naples. It was not until 13 February 1861 that Francis II was forced to capitulate when the withdrawal of the French fleet made bombardment from the sea possible, thus sealing the annexation of the Kingdom of Naples to the Kingdom of Italy. Cialdini, the Piedmontese general, received the victory title of Duke of Gaeta. In April 1938 Gaeta was the scene of an extraterritorial vote of German and Austrian clerics, studying at the German college of Santa Maria dell'Anima, on the question of the German annexation of Austria ("Anschluss"). The place of the vote was the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, which anchored in the harbour of Gaeta. In contrary to the overall German result, these clerical votes rejected the Anschluss with over 90%, an incident which was coined as "Shame of Gaeta" (Vergogna di Gaeta, Schande von Gaeta) at the time. After the king dismissed Mussolini in the summer of 1943, the latter was initially taken via Gaeta to the island prison of Ponza. After Italy surrendered to the Allies, however, the town's fortunes began to decline. Recognizing its strategic importance, and fearful of an Allied landing in the area, German troops occupied the city and expelled most of the population. The zone of exclusion began with a five-kilometre border from the historical city centre. Soon after, however, the population was expelled even beyond this point. The Gaetani were finally ordered to leave the area completely. Those who would not leave voluntarily were detained, some were taken to Germany and possibly ended up in concentration camps. Following the Allied advance across the Garigliano and the Allied occupation of Rome, the Gaetani were allowed to return to their city and begin the process of rebuilding. In subsequent decades the city has boomed as a beach resort, and it has seen some success at marketing its agricultural products, primarily its tomatoes and olives. Many of its families count seamen among their number. However, the decades since World War II have been as difficult for Gaeta as they have been for most of Italy's Mezzogiorno. In particular, its importance as a passenger seaport has nearly vanished: ferries to Ponza and elsewhere now leave from the nearby town of Formia. All attempts to build a permanent industry as a source of employment and economic well-being for the town have failed. Notable losses include the Littorina rail line (now used as a parking lot and a marketplace), the AGIP refinery (nowadays a simple depot), and the once-thriving glass factory, which has become an unused industrial relic. Gaeta does have a viable tourism industry, as it is a popular seaside resort. Its warm, rain-free summers attract people to its numerous beaches along the coastline, such as Serapo and Sant'Agostino Beaches. Nearly equidistant to both Naples and Rome, Gaeta is a popular destination for people from both cities' metropolitan areas. In this film I have an evening walk around the city, unprepared as always but making a few observations on the history of the town and in particular on the siege of 1860 - 1861 which saw the end of the KIngdom of Two Sicilies. The question I pose at the beginning of the walk remains one for which I am seeking an answer. How was it possible for Garibaldi with a few men to overthrow one of the oldest countries in Europe?