The celebrations marking the 165th Anniversary of the End of the Siege of Gaeta (1860–61) concluded with great institutional and civic participation. The commemorative events took place in Gaeta on the 14th and 15th of February 2026.
The initiative, organized with the patronage of local and regional institutions and with the participation of the Delegations of Rome and Lazio, Campania, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Molise, Puglia, and Sicily, represented an important moment of historical remembrance, reflection and spiritual recollection.
The program began on Saturday, February 14th, with the official welcome from the Mayor of Gaeta, Dott. Cristian Leccese, to the Delegates of the Delegations of the former Kingdom and to the public at the Diocesan Museum. There, the participants had the opportunity to admire the Banner of the Battle of Lepanto and the historical artifacts of the Duchy of Gaeta, guided by the Museum’s Director, Don Gennaro Petruccelli.
The first day concluded with a conference held in the Conference Hall of Palazzo De Vio, opened with institutional greetings and followed by a lectio magistralis delivered by Prof. Roberto de Mattei on the topic “Francis II and the End of a Kingdom.”
On Sunday, February 15th, the most solemn moment of the celebrations took place with the Holy Mass at the Sanctuary of the Most Holy Trinity at the Montagna Spaccata, presided over by H.E. the Most Rev. Mons. Luigi Vari, Archbishop of Gaeta and Ecclesiastical Knight Grand Cross of Grace. The Mass was offered in suffrage for the fallen of the Siege of Gaeta (1860–61) and for the last Sovereigns of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Francis II of the Two Sicilies and Maria Sofia.
Afterwards, the Rector of the Sanctuary, Father Daniele Belussi, accompanied the participants to the summit of the cliff of the Montagna Spaccata, at the site where the Transylvania Battery once stood and exploded on February 13th, 1861. The commemorative ceremony included institutional addresses, the casting of a wreath into the sea in honor of the Fallen, the raising of the flag with historical reenactors in period uniforms, and salutes fired with blank ammunition, performed by the “1st King’s Regiment.”
The celebrations were attended by numerous civil, military, and religious authorities, as well as representatives of the Order from various Italian regions, together with members of the local institutions and the associative community. Among the official addresses were those delivered by the Mayor of Gaeta and Egidio D’Addio, President of the Lazio Section of the National Association of Former Nunziatella Students.
The initiative reinforced the historical, cultural, and identity-related significance of the memory of the Siege of Gaeta, a symbol of the end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The substantial participation of the local community highlighted the deep connection of the territory with its history and its commitment to the preservation of collective memory.
