Mausoleum of Lucius Munatius Plancus site features

The mausoleum stands on Monte Orlando, the mountain that rises over Gaeta, on a headland above the sea. It is a single cylindrical building of exceptional preservation: 29.54 metres in diameter, 93.10 metres around, 9 metres high, originally finished with a tumulus that has gone.

Over the door, framed and almost perfectly preserved, is the dedicatory inscription. It reads, in translation: Lucius Munatius Plancus, son of Lucius, grandson of Lucius, great-grandson of Lucius, consul, censor, twice imperator, septemvir of the epulones, triumphator over the Raeti, built the temple of Saturn from the spoils, distributed the fields in Italy at Benevento, and founded in Gaul the colonies of Lugdunum and Raurica. Lugdunum is Lyon; Raurica is Basel.

Inside, a circular corridor -- the ambulacro -- runs round the building and gives onto four cells, each barrel-vaulted and set on one of the four cardinal points. The cells now hold an antiquarium with finds from several different periods. In the principal cell, facing the entrance, stands a copy of the original statue of Plancus; the original is in Rome.

The monument sits within the Monte Orlando regional urban park, among other visible Roman archaeological remains and the later military works -- ammunition stores and gun emplacements -- that the headland also carries. The sea in front of the cliffs is used for diving.

This is one building and four small chambers, so the detail is where the interest lies -- above all the inscription over the door.

• The dedicatory inscription -- almost perfectly preserved above the door in its frame, listing Plancus's offices, his triumph over the Raeti, the temple of Saturn and the founding of Lyon and Basel.
• The drum -- a perfect circle 29.54 m in diameter, 93.10 m in circumference and 9 m high.
• The ambulacro -- the circular internal corridor running inside the wall.
• The four cells -- barrel-vaulted chambers set on the four cardinal points, now holding an antiquarium of finds from various periods.
• The statue of Plancus -- a copy in the main cell facing the entrance; the original is in Rome.
• The lost tumulus -- the earth covering the tomb was built to carry, now gone.
• The setting -- Monte Orlando, above Gaeta, inside the regional urban park, with Roman remains and later gun emplacements nearby.