Angioino-Aragonese Castle

The castle has a long and fascinating history dating back to the 13th century, when it was built under the rule of the Angevin family. At that time, Gaeta was a strategic city for the control of the Mediterranean, and the castle was built precisely to defend this important commercial and military hub.

The Angevin-Aragonese Castle towers over Gaeta: two fortresses side by side, the Angevin one from the 13th century and the Aragonese one from the 15th, which grew together when the town was a key port of the Mediterranean. For a century, from 1861, it was a military prison — where the southern brigands and, later, political prisoners were held — and since 1995 it has been a cultural centre of the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio.

It is visited on a guided tour that starts at set times and lasts about 45 minutes, through the historic halls, the walkways and the viewpoints over the gulf. Tickets cost €10 (€5 for booked groups of at least 15 people), and in summer the castle also opens in the evening, at 9, 10 and 11 pm.

A candidate for FAI’s “Places of the Heart” 2026. Gaeta’s Castello Angioino is competing in FAI’s «I Luoghi del Cuore» census, backed by the committee «Un cuore per il Castello di Gaeta» and the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio. You can vote online until 15 December 2026 with one click; with 3,000 votes the castle can enter the FAI–Intesa Sanpaolo call for restoration funding. Vote for the castle →