The church of the Annunziata was founded in 1320 at the behest of the University of Gaeta and was built outside the walls of the city near the sea. In 1536 it was demolished in large part to make room for the construction of the ramparts of the city (now no longer visible) and was rebuilt in 1621. The church is characterized by a strong vertical development, has a single nave divided into five bays with pointed and slender arches. The presbytery is covered by a Gothic vault. The facade, by Andrea Lazzari, has at the top a majolica clock by Matteo De Vivo surmounted by a bell tower of the early eighteenth century. In the nave there are two marble altars made by Dionisio Lazzari with paintings by Luca Giordano (Crucifixion; Adoration of the Shepherds, 1690), while the current Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament houses the painting Madonna and Child by Giacinto Brandi. Of great importance is the Golden Grotto or chapel of the Immaculate Conception (XV century), so called for the rich gilded wooden decoration present in the intrados of the barrel vault. The chapel has its own entrance on Via Annunziata and has a marble portal rearranged by Dionisio Lazzari. The interior walls are decorated with a pictorial cycle of 18 paintings by Criscuolo and some of his students. On the altar stands the painting of the Immaculate Conception by Scipione Pulzone.
Via Annunziata, 21-23-23/A
