The churches of Gaeta are the Christian places of worship located within the boundaries of the present-day municipality of Gaeta, thus including both the town center and the surrounding area.
The first Christian communities in Gaeta, like those in nearby Formia, appeared no earlier than the end of the 3rd century. During this period, the first bishop of Formia, Erasmus, preached in the area. This must have had an effect on Gaeta, since, according to hagiographies, the former soldier Ephysius, who had converted to Christianity, was baptized there during those same years.
The size of the town - and of the Christian community - was still modest at the time. A turning point came in the 6th century with the Gothic War and the subsequent when the major Roman centers in the area were sacked or destroyed. In this context, the populations of the nearby Roman cities in the terminal part of the Gaetan peninsula began to migrate in a defensive manner. Within two and a half centuries, with the growth of this last settlement, the episcopal see of Formia (which had already absorbed that of Minturno) was transferred, first de facto and then de jure, to Gaeta.
The first mention of a church in Gaeta dates back to 604: the church of San Giorgio, built at least 20 years earlier in the upper part of the castrum. San Giorgio was one of the four parishes traditionally considered the oldest in the city, together with Santa Maria in Pensulis, San Pietro and San Tommaso. The four parish priests had the right to wear a miter and walk next to the bishop in processions at least until the 16th century. San Pietro still retained the privilege of the mitred prior at the end of the 18th century.
Other churches that probably appeared in the 7th century are San Lorenzo, Santa Scolastica and Santa Maria del Parco. The first was located in a farmhouse in the Pontone valley, called Massa Laurenziana, owned by the Patrimony of St. Peter; the second was a very ancient grange of the Abbey of Montecassino; the third was chosen as a refuge around 842 by the Bishop of Formia, who also hid the relics of the Formian saints there for fear of Saracen plundering. Between 760 and 780, the area was enclosed by a new circle of walls, from which the name "de parcu" may derive.
The churches of San Salvatore, initially outside the walls, and Santi Cosma e Damiano, in a new village over 2 km from the walled city, can be dated to between the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th century.
During the 9th century the parishes of Santa Maria fuori Porta, San Silviniano, Santa Irene and the monasteries of San Teodoro and Sant'Angelo in Planciano were built. In the 10th century the parishes of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, San Nicola, San Giovanni a Mare, Santa Barbara were founded, as well as the convents of Santa Maria and San Quirico (also parishes) and the churches of San Giacomo (later degli Spagnoli), San Giovanni in Fonte and Santa Maria del Molo. After the year 1000 and for the next four centuries, churches were built continuously, with more intense phases corresponding to periods of greater economic prosperity in the city.
During the reigns of Ladislaus and his sister Joanna, Gaeta reached the height of its splendor, becoming the second capital of the Kingdom of Naples. The number of functioning religious buildings was also considerable: by 1420 there were 21 parishes within the walls (in an area of less than 15 hectares) and 6 outside, 3 Benedictine monasteries for women and 3 for men with their respective outbuildings, 1 Cistercian abbey, 2 Franciscan convents, 1 Dominican and 1 Augustinian, 2 Carthusian granges and about twenty other churches and chapels.
With the advent of the Aragonese period, economic growth came to a halt and the population decreased slightly. In 1440 the parish of San Ludovico was transferred to Santa Maria di Porta, the original church having been demolished for military reasons. In 1481 some churches were suppressed and united to the Cathedral Chapter by Bishop Francesco Patrizi: Santi Cosma e Damiano in Gaeta, San Pantaleone, Santa Marina, Sant'Ambrogio del Monte and Santa Maria di Casaregola.
The most dramatic decline, in every sense, occurred during the Italian wars of 1494âÂÂ1504, which the people of Gaeta experienced firsthand. The looting carried out by French soldiers in June 1495 mainly affected the rich churches of Gaeta, which were devastated and deprived of precious ornaments and votive offerings accumulated over the centuries.
In the 16th century, the construction of ramparts and the consequent sharp reduction in commercial activities contributed to the depopulation of Gaeta in favor of its . The overabundance of parishes in the walled city became evident to the ecclesiastical authorities, who decreed the unification of numerous parishes during the course of the century. The first parish to be abolished - it is not known exactly when - was that of Santo Stefano. In 1519, on the initiative of the then bishop Cardinal De Vio, San Salvatore was suppressed and annexed to the cathedral with a bull issued by Pope Leo X. The merger was confirmed by a bull issued by Clement VII in 1530. In 1550, by brief of Julius II, the parish of San Geminiano or Santi Lucia e Geminiano was incorporated into that of Santa Barbara. Six parishes propter earum vicinitatem quommodo superfluae were suppressed in 1569 by a bull of Pius V: San Giorgio, Santa Irene, San Silviniano, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, San Vito, San Silvestro; the decision was confirmed by a bull issued by Gregory XIII in 1575. There was more or less strong opposition from parish priests and the faithful, since a papal decree was needed each time to confirm the abolition.
Between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, however, three new parishes were established in the village: San Giacomo in 1571, San Carlo in 1620, and San Sergio in 1638. The construction of churches and chapels, especially Marian ones, received a new impulse during the period of the Counter-Reformation. New religious orders appeared on a scene that was still dominated by Benedictines, Cistercians and Conventual Franciscans: Camillians, Capuchins, Piarists and Discalced Augustinians.
In the early 1700s the number of consecrated churches was again very high. In the report of the pastoral visit of April 9, 1725, Bishop Carlo Pignatelli noted with some satisfaction that in the city enclosed within the walls, where 2,996 people lived, there were 35 churches, including 11 parishes and 6 monasteries. The village, with its 6,814 inhabitants, had 4 parishes, 3 monasteries and several other rural churches and chapels.
In the second half of the 18th century there was a decline in the number of priests, religious and active churches, which was accompanied by a certain demographic and economic stagnation. The "death blow" to religious activities was dealt by the ten-year French government, which abolished several parishes and almost all the monasteries in the city. The churches of Gaeta, reduced in number and almost all in a poor state of repair, enjoyed a new period of prosperity during the nine months that Pius IX was exiled in the city and in the following years, when by order of Ferdinand II many churches were restored or rebuilt and some chapels were built from scratch.
With the unification of Italy the situation for the churches, particularly those pertaining to religious orders, worsened again with the anticlerical laws. Despite this, the demographic growth prevented a reduction in the number of parishes, which remained at 8 throughout the century.
The parish of San Giovanni a Mare was merged with the Cathedral in the first decades of the 20th century. The parish of San Biagio effectively ceased to exist around 1955, when its church was demolished; de jure it was never suppressed. The parish of San Pietro was officially assigned to the church of San Giovanni della Porta in 1895, then passed to San Domenico in 1930 and was finally suppressed at the end of the 70s. The parish of Santa Lucia was transferred to Santa Caterina and then merged with the Cathedral in 1987.
The traditional three parishes of San Giacomo, Santi Cosma e Damiano and San Carlo still exist in the Borgo. With the economic boom and population growth of the 1960s, two new parishes were established: San Nilo in 1963 and San Paolo in 1964. Finally, in 1986 the parish of Santo Stefano was nominally established, but the inauguration of the church only took place in 2014. The number of parishes is therefore seven.
With the recent abandonment of the Addolorata convent by the Crucified Adorers of the Eucharist nuns, only two regular religious complexes remain: the Holy Trinity (PIME) and Our Lady of Mercy (SMMP). The number of churches open for worship is obviously limited to these and a few other churches. Despite the neglect and damage suffered during the Second World War, however, numerous churches throughout the territory are still visible and sometimes open to visitors.
In order to compile a complete list, the Christian places of worship in the city were systematically divided into two parts ("inside the walls" and "outside the walls") and into different categories. Determining the taxonomy of the churches is rather problematic; in this respect, a more complex classification, postponed to the traditional name, was preferred to a generic prefix "ex". Deconsecrated churches (existing and non-existing) are indicated in italics. Similarly, the heading "church of" or "chapel of" has generally been avoided, and for simplicity only the titular and any changes over time are given. Apparent repetitions are due to rebuilding at another site or to homonymy. Another problematic aspect is the distinction between churches and chapels, which could lead to the latter being considered "improper" churches and irrelevant to the purpose of the list. The distinction is historically unstable and not easily based on dimensional or functional criteria, as evidenced by the frequent expression chiesa seu cappella ("either church or chapel").