GAETA lords over the broad sweep of bay from its high, castle-topped headland, an appealing place at first sight (especially from the southern side), untidily piled up onto the pinnacle of its defensive rock. The fortress here was impregnable: it resisted Gothic and Saracen invaders and the town flourished under the Normans, some of its architecture dating back to that time – and earlier. The tiny church of San Giovanni al Mare (check with tourist office for opening times) by the water, hails from the tenth century; and on the summit of Monte Orlando, now a park, there’s the classical tomb of one Munatius Plancus, the founder of Lyons, decorated with a frieze showing scenes of battle (daily: summer 9am-1pm & 4-8pm; winter shorter hours). Close by, a terrace gives fine views over the Serapo bay below, next to which the small church of Santuario del Crocifisso is built on a boulder breaching the chasm of Montagna Spaccata, literally suspended a few hundred metres above the sea.