Benvenuti / Welcome to

Formia

Formia is situated on the spectacular Gulf of Gaeta, and its name is derived from the Greek word "Hormiai" meaning "a safe place to lay anchor".

Even back in Roman times it was a fashionable holiday resort for statesmen, and today many ruins of ancient monuments of this era still exist. Some of these include: Tomb of Cicero, the Muro di Nerva (remains of the city walls built be the Emperor Nerva), the Peschiere (fish hatcheries), the San Remigio Fountain on a

tract of the old Via Appia, the Criptoportici, and Villa Rubino, not to mention all those mentioned below.

After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, this area fell into decline and was repeatedly attacked by the Barbarians and then by the Saracens. The townsfolk were forced to take refuge in the surrounding hills. However, gradually over time, two settlements developed.

The first, named Mola (di Gaeta), was situated on the waterfront, the second, positioned on higher ground, on the remains of a Roman colony, was Castellone. In the 13th century Charles II D’Anjour ordered the construction of defensive towers in each of these villages and in the mid 1400’s Onorato I Caetani, Count of Fondi, built a castle in Castellone. Each of these communities still has their own churches and patron saints. Eventually, many years later in the 1800’s the two districts were united to form the town of Formia as we now know it.

As you approach the lower part of the Castellone district with the sea glistening behind you, it’s as if walking back in time. Just outside the old city walls is the 15th century Church of San Rocco, which has a 16th century triptych of the Virgin and Child with San Rocco and San Sebastiano by by the Neapolitan painter Girolamo Stabile.

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Nearby is the Torre dell’ Orologio with its majolica clock and single bell, and the gateway of Porta San Rocca, leads into the medieval heart of Castellone, a maze of narrow little streets and alleys.

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