The cathedral of Terracina is not built beside the Roman temple: it is built inside it. When a church began to be made here in the fifth century, what remained of the temple of the city's forum was used, and the steps you climb are still the ancient ones. In front, the paving of the Roman square is exposed, with the inscription of the magistrate who had it laid.
What to see
Above the portico runs a band of medieval mosaic, with figures and animals on a gold ground, made by the Roman marble workers who cut inlays of coloured stone. Inside, from the same craft, are the floor, the pulpit and the candlestick for the paschal candle, a twisted column covered in tesserae.
The church was reconsecrated in 1074, and here something happened that Terracina still remembers: in 1088 the cardinals gathered in this cathedral and elected a pope, Urban the Second, the man who a few years later would proclaim the first crusade. A conclave in a provincial town of Lazio, because at that moment Rome was no place to be.
Visiting
The cathedral is in piazza del Municipio, in the upper town, ten minutes on foot from the sea; free entry, closed at midday and during services. Half an hour. The square is pedestrian and you can walk all round it.
Our editors' tip
Before climbing the steps, stop in the middle of the square and look at the ground: the stone slabs are those the Romans walked on, and the inscription with the name of the man who paid for the paving can still be read. Then raise your eyes and see the church standing on top of it. In a few square metres there are two thousand years, with no display cases and no ticket.