Terracina: breath-taking landascapes, mythology and history

The wonderful city of Terracina is situated in the Pontine Marshes, Lazio region, just 20 km to the south of Circeo Mount, on the Tyrrhenian coast of the Gulf of Gaeta.
Terracina appears as a modern and advanced city: it’s well equipped with all services, that during the summer are fundamental for thousands of tourists who choose to spend here their holidays.

Nevertheless, this beautiful coastal city fully preserves and protects an important historical aspect.
Terracina is known to be the place in which Circe the Sorceress met Ulysses, as Homer writes in the Odyssey, but its origins are still a mystery: according to the legend, its name derives from a group of Spartans fled from their city to conquer the Tyrrhenian coast that led their habit to have dinner on the bare ground, so the city name could derive from the greek “Ταρρακινήin” (terra= ground, cena= dinner), instead according to recent studies carried out on Tito Livio’s works, its name derives from "Trachna", a word used to identify Tarquin the Proud, king of Rome, that sent a group of soldiers to control the coast.
Undoubtedly, observing the city today it’s easy to understand that it was influenced by the Roman period under several respects.
The first work that gave fame to Terracina was the Via Appia, that today still leads Rome to Capua: it was fundamental both for commerce and military operations.
Thanks to the Via Appia, the importance of Terracina grew exponentially and started to expand the borders toward the sea.
In a few years, it was necessary also to enlarge the harbour and a lot of works in Opus Incertum were built.
Many of those works are still visible: one of them is the Temple of Jupiter Anxur.
This glorious Temple is situated on the Monte Sant’Angelo, also known as “Jupiter’s Mount”, and was built in 312 BC and completely restored in the first century BC.
Despite its name, we don’t know which is the divinity to whom it’s dedicated: it was thought that the first realization was dedicated to Feronia, the goddess of fertility, but there are other two options. According to the legend we think it was dedicated to Iuppiter Anxur (the young Jupiter), that is the protector of the city, but recently was discovered an inscription dedicated to Venus.

Another of the most important Roman works of Terracina is the “Foro Emiliano”, that was the city center during the Roman period: on the main square is still visible a Latin inscription that reads “Aulus Aemilius”, that was the magistrate that ordered the realization.
The Foro Emiliano had a very central role, because was surrounded by the most important religious buildings and was also the place to do business, but during the second World War it was bombed and partially destroyed.

Terracina is not only a city rich of history, but is also one of the most beautiful Italian coastal cities, characterized by sandy beaches and crystal-clear seawater.
Thanks to its breath-taking landscape and the high quality of life in the last three years this splendid city has been one of the cities whit the highest number of purchases and sales of real estate.