GAETA: antica via Flacca

The favorable environmental conditions and the characteristics of the Gaetano soil, since the Roman Republican age, favored the flourishing of rural companies based on cattle breeding and specialized agriculture, able to export products also to the Mediterranean basin. The connection between these settlements, accessible above all from the sea, was ensured by a road identified with the one opened in 184 BC. by the censor L. Valerio Flacco. According to a well-known passage by Livio (39, 44, 6), Flacco "built a dam (molem) near the sources of Neptune (Neptuniae aquas) to allow the transit of a road that led to the mountains of Formia (Farmianum montem)". The presence of this road axis, probably built on an even older route, favored the intensification of the local economy with the birth of farms whose vitality was obviously connected to the development of communication lines and development of tourism with the birth of the "maritime villas" also known as "coastal villas" of the Roman aristocracy.

On the most beautiful stretch of the famous Riviera di Ulisse, the one between Gaeta and Sperlonga, we retrace the ancient Via Flacca, a semi-abandoned and at times disappeared path, with breathtaking views.

Lenght: 6 km

Duration: 3 hours

Difficulty: path for people used to walking in the wild nature

Notes:

• no accident insurance provided

• at the beginning (and at the end) it is necessary to walk for 500 meters along a state road and to walk for 100 meters in a well-lit tunnel

• on the path we walk at times in uncut vegetation: it is recommended to wear hiking boots and to protect legs with long pants

• there are unprotected passages, not suitable for those suffering from vertigo

• there are steps where we need to help ourself with hands

• toll parking

• possibility to buy local food and drinks in the parking area

Photos