Terracina

Terracina is as old as its literal sources that claim the town’s origin as Etruscan, Volscian and then a Roman colony . It is extraordinarily capable of surprising you with its immense cultural and artistic patrimony accumulated over the centuries.
At the end of the Etruscan supremacy in the region of Lazio “Tarracina” was in fact handed over to the Italian population , the Volscians, who then changed its name to “Anxur”. Only after a long period of wars was the foundation of the maritime colony, in 329 B.C. sanctioned. This was of strategic importance for the military and commercial penetration of the south of the peninsular.
The oldest part of the town, enclosed in the polygonal town walls, was built on the western slope of Mount Sant’Angelo, which extended towards the Valley and the marshes known as the Cannete. Stories from the Roman period tell of the growth of the town and the exploitation of the fertile land to the east, and how the town extended and became inhabited down near the sea , while the original part of the town on the hill remained the more elegant area, rich in mansions and monuments.
During the age of Silla, several monuments in opus incertum and reticulatum, such as the Roman theatre were built, as were the walls that surrounded the monument of Mount Sant’Angelo and the construction of the magnificent Temple of Juppiter Anxur.

During the Imperial age between the 1st and 2nd century A.D., there was a second phase of construction in the town, including the great Emilian Forum , the Municipal Square surrounded by porticos and numerous religious and civil buildings and finally the new Trajan port. The collapse of the Roman Empire dragged the town into a long period of decline.
The ancient Volscian-Roman walls were replaced by a new fortification and Terracina became even more of a fortified town under the influence of the Pontifical State and repeated attempts of feudalism by the noble families of Lazio and the Kingdom of Naples. Meanwhile the expansion of the marshes and the spreading of malaria, progressively reduced the number of inhabitants. Terracina had to wait until the end of the 18th century for its proud recovery when it became the political, administrative and technical centre of the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes much desired by Pope Pious VI. The old town thus became de-militarized and the fortified structures changed their role and became private residences, and public and religious buildings such as the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Palace.
The lower urban centre of the town was reclaimed and the area, now known as Borgo Pio, was built. Its development continued all through the 19th century until the beginning of the 20th century overlapping the reconstruction of the area after the World Wars.