Palazzo Caetani, in Cisterna di Latina, was begun in 1560 at the wish of Bonifacio Caetani and finished in 1574; the works were directed by the architect Francesco da Volterra. It rises on the ruins of the Frangipane fortress, of which it incorporated a square stone tower, the only part to survive earlier devastations. The Caetani made it the main residence from which to govern their estates in the Pontine marshes, and called in to decorate it the brothers Federico and Taddeo Zuccari, Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta and Stefano Duperac. Much of the palace collapsed under the bombs of the Second World War; a restoration in the nineties partly recovered its appearance and brought late Renaissance frescoes back to light, and in 2008 work began on the main floor.
What to see
The plan is not entirely regular, because the palace had to incorporate the old tower and follow the undulating ground: it has two towers and a square courtyard, paved with cobbles. In the Sala Zuccari, also called the Sala del Vescovo, the frescoes attributed to the two brothers show the Caetani possessions, Ninfa, Sermoneta, the Circeo, the sea and the countryside. The Sala della Loggia opens onto a loggia facing Sermoneta, and is decorated with floral paintings of the eighteenth century.
The palace houses the municipal library and a civic gallery of modern and contemporary art. Two rooms belong to the Museo dei Butteri e del Cavallo, with documents and materials on life in the Pontine marshes and works devoted to the horse, including pieces by Aligi Sassu and Duilio Cambellotti. The courtyard hosts exhibitions, concerts and the Cisterna Film Festival, devoted to short films.
Visiting
Opening times of the rooms, the gallery and the caves should be checked with the town of Cisterna di Latina.
Our editors' tip
Beneath the palace and the historic centre runs a network of caves and tunnels up to fifteen metres deep. A legend makes them Roman cisterns; more probably they are quarries of tuff and pozzolana, dug from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century to build the palace and the houses, and then used by the Caetani as cellars. During the Second World War about four thousand people took shelter there. Part has been restored and opened to the public.
