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Church of San Carlo Borromeo: the parish born to fight epidemics in the La Piaja quarter
The Church of San Carlo Borromeo is located in the La Piaja quarter of Gaeta, along the road leading to Formia. Consecrated in 1620, it was built with a specific purpose: to protect the city from epidemics. San Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan who personally tended to the sick during the plague of 1576–77, was the ideal saint for a church placed at the city gates — a spiritual sentinel against the evils threatening the territory.
From chapel to parish: four centuries of history
The priest Antonio Conca began its construction in 1606. In 1620, Bishop Pietro de Oña consecrated and elevated it to a parish, replacing the ancient Chapel of Sant'Andrea Apostolo (St Andrew Apostle). When the cholera epidemic of 1836–1837 struck hard in the La Piaja quarter, devotion to the saint grew even stronger.
What can be seen today
During World War II the church suffered severe damage, leading to a radical restoration. The works entailed eliminating the original Baroque layout and adding new rose windows to the façade and the apse. Today the interior has a rectangular plan with a single nave and six slightly projecting niches on either side, separated by pilaster strips. One of the few surviving furnishings is the baptismal font in local stone. On the outside, the façade features a pediment redesigned in the 1950s, supported by three large corbels arranged in a triangle. The church also houses a statue of San Carlo, a gift from Cardinal Montini, who later became Pope Paul VI.
