GAETA, get-Teti. A city and seaport, and one of the strongest fortresses in Italy, on the Gulf of Gaeta (q.v.), 74 miles by a winding railway northwest of Naples (Map: Italy, H 6). The promontory of Gaeta, on which it is situated, looks from the distance like a tumulus, and ac cording to tradition was the tomb of Caieta, the nurse of .ZEneas; hence the ancient name of the city, Portus Caieta. The promontory is crowned by the Torre d'Orlando, the tomb of Munatius Plancus, the friend of Augustus. It is 160 feet in height and 160 feet in diameter, and resembles the much smaller tomb of Crecilia Metella at Rome. On the rocks below is the town in a beau tiful setting of country houses and orange groves, the Torre Angiovina in the citadel affords a splendid prospect of coast and sea. Objects of antiquarian interest are the campanile of the Cathedral of Saint Erasmus, and the remains of a Roman amphitheatre and a Roman theatre. Gaeta is a centre of the coasting trade, and markets fish, oil, wine, and fruit. It was orig
inally a Greek colony, and in ancient times was crowded with magnificent public buildings. Like Amalfi and Naples, it resisted the barbarian invaders, and becoming part of the Byzantine Empire—and later independent—was also a stronghold of civilization against the Lombards and Saracens. In 1134, however, it fell before Roger II., and was annexed to the Norman King dom of Sicily. During the centuries that fol lowed it was the sport of various masters, and in 1806 was gloriously defended for six months against Mass6na by Prince Ludwig von Hessen Philippsthal, who is buried in the citadel. It was the refuge of Pius IX. (q.v.) from 1848, when he fled from Rome, until 1850. From November, 1860, until February 13, 1861, Francis II. of Naples, the last of the Bourbon kings, was besieged here by the forces of Victor Emmanuel, and compelled to surrender. Population, in 1881, 6429; in 1901, 5528.