Gaeta

Fortified seaport in Lazio region, west-central Italy, 65 km/40 mi southeast of Latina; it stands on a high promontory in the Gulf of Gaeta, an inlet of the Tyrrhenian Sea; population (1991) 22,300. There is a glass industry, and an important fishing trade. Gaeta has a 10th-15th-century cathedral and an 8th-century castle. The archiepiscopal church and other ancient buildings were damaged during World War II.

In 1861, as a large Neapolitan naval base, it was the scene of the last stand of King Francis II of Naples against a united Italy.