Discover Terracina

Terracina is an Italian city and comune of about 45,100 people in the province of Latina, in Lazio, on the coast 56 kilometres south-east of Rome on the Via Appia — 76 kilometres by rail. The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity.

It stands in the Agro Pontino at the southern edge of that plain, near the promontory of the Circeo and close to the mouth of the river Amaseno, on the Tyrrhenian coast of the Gulf of Gaeta.

The city grows out of a spur of Monte Sant'Angelo, on whose sea-facing summit stands the Temple of Jupiter Anxur at 226 metres, towering over the historic centre, with the eastern beach on one side and the Lungomare Circe and western beach on the other.

To the south-east the imposing limestone cliff of Pisco Montano, 128.8 metres high and detached from Monte Sant'Angelo, sharply marks the southern limit of the built-up area.

Its position was always the point. Terracina sits where the Volscian Hills — an extension of the Lepini — reach the coast, leaving no space for passage between them and the sea, commanding the Pontine Marshes and possessing a small harbour. Livy called it urbs prona in paludes, a city surrounded by marshes.

What is Terracina known for? The Temple of Jupiter Anxur, standing at 226 metres on the sea-facing summit of Monte Sant'Angelo over the historic centre, and the Roman cut through the Pisco Montano cliff.

Who was Anxur? The Volscian name of Jupiter himself as a youth — Iuppiter Anxur or Anxurus — and the tutelary god of the city, venerated on the Mons Neptunius, today's Monte Sant'Angelo.

Why does the town have two ancient names? Because two peoples named it: the Latin Tarracina and the Volscian Anxur. Tarracina has been read as pre-Indo-European or as Etruscan — Tarchna or Tarchuna, the Tarquinii family name — which would make it older than the Volscian conquest.

What is the Pisco Montano cut? A cut made in the rocks at the foot of the promontory to take the Via Appia past the cliff, probably completed early in Trajan's time (AD 98–117).

What do the marks on the cliff mean? They record the depth of the cut, at intervals of ten Roman feet. The lowest mark, about a metre above the present road, is CXX — thirty-six metres.

Why was the road so difficult here? Because the Volscian Hills, an extension of the Lepini, reach the coast at this point and leave no space for passage between them and the sea. The Appia originally climbed over the promontory, and an embankment into the sea was attempted in 184 BC.

How old is the city? The site has been continuously occupied since antiquity. It joined the Etruscan League of twelve cities in the 600s BC and was under Roman supremacy by 509 BC.

When did it finally become Roman for good? In 329 BC, with the establishment of a colony of Roman citizens as Colonia Anxurnas — after being recaptured in 406, lost in 402, recovered in 400 and attacked unsuccessfully in 397.

What did Livy call it? Urbs prona in paludes — a city surrounded by marshes.

How hot does it get? August averages just under 30 °C by day and 21 °C at night, with about twenty-two muggy days.

When is the wettest month? November, at about 98 mm over more than ten rainy days. July is the driest, at barely 14 mm.

How far is Rome? 56 kilometres north-west on the Via Appia; 76 kilometres by rail.