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Church of the Most Holy Annunciation in Gaeta: Gothic and Baroque details, and the Golden Grotto
In 1320, the Church of the Annunziata was built outside the city walls, near the sea, partially funded by the citizens through the "quartuccio": the fourth part of the catch that the gulf's fishermen donated to the cause. Two hundred years later, the Lazzari (three generations of Neapolitan architects and marble workers) transformed it into a 14th-century Gothic structure, with overlapping Baroque decorative scheme.
What to see, and in what order
The church is characterized by its verticality, it has a single nave divided into five bays with pointed arches (archi acuti). The presbytery (or chancel) is covered by a Gothic vault. Dominating the apse is the 16th-century polyptych by Andrea Sabatini da Salerno. In the nave, two canvases by Luca Giordano (Crucifixion and Adoration of the Shepherds) rest upon marble altars made by Dionisio Lazzari. On the left choir loft sits the De Martino organ (1685–1689). Two large canvases by Sebastiano Conca, a native of Gaeta, adorn the choir walls.
The Golden Grotto
Continuing the visit toward the eastern part of the building, the Golden Grotto (Grotta d’Oro) is a room with a separate entrance on Via Annunziata. The barrel vault with gilded wooden coffers (or lacunars) consists of 19 panels by Giovanni Filippo Criscuolo depicting scenes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary, while the altarpiece is by Scipione Pulzone. It was here that Pope Pius IX, in exile in Gaeta between 1848 and 1849, spent hours in prayer, conceiving what would become the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. Since 2009, the church has held the status of a Sanctuary, and is twinned with Lourdes.
