Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Terracina

TERRACINA , a town of Italy, in the province of Rome, and about 60 miles to the south-east of that city, at the south-east extremity of the Pontine marshes, where the Monti Lepini (see Italy, vol. xiii. p. 438, and Latium) descend into the sea. The ancient town (Volscian Anxur, Roman Tarracina) stood on the white hillside ("impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur "), along the foot of which, by the seashore, ran the Via Appia. The modern town stands mainly on the level ground. The most conspicuous building is the cathedral, which is believed to occupy the site of a temple of Jupiter Anxurus; it is enriched both externally and internally with beautiful old columns and Roman mosaics. Above the town, on the summit of the cliff, are the remains of a palace of Theodoric (c. 500), afterwards a mediaeval castle. The ancient harbour, con structed by Antoninus Pius and once very important, is now silted up; a new mole affords shelter to coasting vessels. Fishing is carried on, and there is some trade in the produce of the district. The population of the town in 1881 was 6294 (commune, 8572).

Anxur finally became Roman in 400 B.C., and a colony was established there in 329. Its strategic position early gave it military importance; and its pleasant situation and its mineral waters led many Romans to build villas and seek seaside quarters there.