A Gaeta, the three fissures in the rock, is the starting point of a complex that attracts visitors from all over Italy and beyond. Tourism of faith and tourism of pleasure. Yes, because the Montagna Spaccata is not only the evocative panorama of natural architecture, it is also religion, history, legend.
I 35 steps which lead straight into the heart into the sea, in a magical bay with clear and shining waters and a romantic atmosphere that lovers love so much, it contains much more than that.
An attentive, practical, critical eye will be able to see, in those crevices, a comfortable refuge for Saracen ships, whose pirates, in the Middle Ages, safe from prying eyes, prepared ambushes and attempted plundering.
Next to pirate refuge and above it, as if to sanction its superiority, stands the Sanctuary of the Holy Trinity, dating back to the XNUMXth century and founded by the Benedictine monks. Today the headquarters of the PIME missionaries, over the years it has welcomed in prayer numerous popes, bishops, saints and sovereigns: Pius IX, Ignazio di Loyola and San Filippo Neri, to name a few. About San Filippo Blacks, it seems that he lived inside the Montagna Spaccata and that he retired there in meditation on a stone bed that bears his name.
Alongside history and faith, the legend of the Hand of the Turk. He was a sailor and he was a disbeliever. He did not believe that the crack in the rock was a consequence of Christ's death or that it was concomitant with the breaking of the veil of the temple in Jerusalem. Thus, irreverent and mocking, our sailor descended between the cracks. At a certain point, in the descent, placing his hand on the rock that served as a handrail, surprisingly, he realized that the rock, upon contact, had become soft and waxy, forever preserving the imprint of that hand that so obstinately he had disbelieved.
From history to legend, then, passing through faith to return to nature, an incomparable architect and inspirer of styles. In 1434, probably following an earthquake, from two of the ridges that are now familiar to us, a boulder came off and stopped a little further down, getting stuck between them. It was on that boulder that the Chapel of the Crucifix, from the top of whose dome you can enjoy the breathtaking view that only such a naturally structured complex can offer.
From the shoulders of the SanctuaryIn addition, various paths depart that can be traveled on foot and with comfortable shoes: the perfect walk for those seeking peace and pure air without giving up the pleasure of a full-blown excursion.
And to finish the day? Go down to the sea, on the beautiful Caboto waterfront, and stop for a good ice cream at the "Il Pinguino" ice cream parlor. A few steps from the most famous ice cream parlor "Il Molo", despite having fewer variants, it offers customers the highest quality ice creams, comparable, if not superior, to its more famous competitor.
So don't be fooled by the small and inconspicuous restaurant, don't trade quality for notoriety: stop and try.
