The Grotta del Turco is a paradisiacal place; to reach it you need to climb 300 steps, but once you get to the end of the stairs you can admire the natural spectacle of the gorge plunging into the sea. Unfortunately today, however, you can not go down to the bottom for safety reasons. The ‘Split Mountain’ of Gaeta is one of the most fascinating places of the Pontine coast. In the mountain there are three fissures in the rock, with a long staircase that leads to the deepest central fissure and the so-called ‘Grotta del Turco’. This gash in the mountain, this huge wound in the earth, was formed, according to Christian tradition, immediately after the death of Jesus Christ. As ‘proof’ of this there is the mythical ‘Hand of the Turk’, an imprint left centuries ago in the rock (the shape of a hand, with five fingers), which is said to have been formed when an unbelieving Turkish sailor (he did not believe in the divine origin of the cracks in the mountain) leaned on it with his right hand and the stone became soft under his pressure.
