diff --git a/src/cli/serve.rs b/src/cli/serve.rs
index d62849f..b9c0e27 100644
--- a/src/cli/serve.rs
+++ b/src/cli/serve.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::time::Duration;
+use std::{sync::Arc, time::Duration};
 
 use crate::server;
 
@@ -9,12 +9,17 @@ pub fn serve(config: &crate::config::Config) -> u8 {
 
     tracing::info!("Initializing database and running migrations");
 
+    // TODO remove unwraps
     let store =
         gpodder_sqlite::SqliteRepository::from_path(config.data_dir.join(crate::DB_FILENAME))
             .unwrap();
+    let tera = crate::web::initialize_tera().unwrap();
     let store = gpodder::GpodderRepository::new(store);
 
-    let ctx = server::Context { store };
+    let ctx = server::Context {
+        store,
+        tera: Arc::new(tera),
+    };
     let app = server::app(ctx.clone());
 
     let rt = tokio::runtime::Builder::new_multi_thread()
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index b42d31a..fa680ad 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 mod cli;
 mod config;
 mod server;
+mod web;
 
 use clap::Parser;
 
diff --git a/src/server/error.rs b/src/server/error.rs
index dacc052..ca1da44 100644
--- a/src/server/error.rs
+++ b/src/server/error.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ pub type AppResult<T> = Result<T, AppError>;
 pub enum AppError {
     // Db(db::DbError),
     IO(std::io::Error),
+    Tera(tera::Error),
     Other(Box<dyn std::error::Error + 'static + Send + Sync>),
     BadRequest,
     Unauthorized,
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for AppError {
         match self {
             // Self::Db(_) => write!(f, "database error"),
             Self::IO(_) => write!(f, "io error"),
+            Self::Tera(_) => write!(f, "tera error"),
             Self::Other(_) => write!(f, "other error"),
             Self::BadRequest => write!(f, "bad request"),
             Self::Unauthorized => write!(f, "unauthorized"),
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ impl std::error::Error for AppError {
     fn source(&self) -> Option<&(dyn std::error::Error + 'static)> {
         match self {
             // Self::Db(err) => Some(err),
+            Self::Tera(err) => Some(err),
             Self::IO(err) => Some(err),
             Self::Other(err) => Some(err.as_ref()),
             Self::NotFound | Self::Unauthorized | Self::BadRequest => None,
@@ -46,6 +49,12 @@ impl From<std::io::Error> for AppError {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<tera::Error> for AppError {
+    fn from(value: tera::Error) -> Self {
+        Self::Tera(value)
+    }
+}
+
 impl IntoResponse for AppError {
     fn into_response(self) -> axum::response::Response {
         match self {
diff --git a/src/server/mod.rs b/src/server/mod.rs
index 17ba893..f9ef26a 100644
--- a/src/server/mod.rs
+++ b/src/server/mod.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 mod error;
 mod gpodder;
 mod r#static;
+mod web;
+
+use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use axum::{
     body::Body,
@@ -16,12 +19,14 @@ use tower_http::trace::TraceLayer;
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct Context {
     pub store: ::gpodder::GpodderRepository,
+    pub tera: Arc<tera::Tera>,
 }
 
 pub fn app(ctx: Context) -> Router {
     Router::new()
         .merge(gpodder::router(ctx.clone()))
         .nest("/static", r#static::router())
+        .nest("/_", web::router(ctx.clone()))
         .layer(axum::middleware::from_fn(header_logger))
         .layer(axum::middleware::from_fn(body_logger))
         .layer(TraceLayer::new_for_http())
diff --git a/src/server/web/mod.rs b/src/server/web/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f3c3e5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/server/web/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+use axum::{extract::State, http::HeaderMap, routing::get, Router};
+
+use crate::web::{Page, TemplateExt, TemplateResponse, View};
+
+use super::Context;
+
+pub fn router(_ctx: Context) -> Router<Context> {
+    Router::new().route("/", get(get_index))
+}
+
+async fn get_index(State(ctx): State<Context>, headers: HeaderMap) -> TemplateResponse<Page<View>> {
+    View::Index.page(&headers).response(&ctx.tera)
+}
diff --git a/src/web/mod.rs b/src/web/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df87f93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/web/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+mod page;
+mod view;
+
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use axum::{
+    body::Body,
+    http::{HeaderMap, Response, StatusCode},
+    response::{Html, IntoResponse},
+};
+
+pub use page::Page;
+pub use view::View;
+
+const BASE_TEMPLATE: &str = "base.html";
+
+/// Trait defining shared methods for working with typed Tera templates
+pub trait Template {
+    /// Returns the name or path used to identify the template in the Tera struct
+    fn template(&self) -> &'static str;
+
+    /// Render the template using the given Tera instance.
+    ///
+    /// Templates are expected to manage their own context requirements if needed.
+    fn render(&self, tera: &tera::Tera) -> tera::Result<String>;
+}
+
+/// Useful additional functions on sized Template implementors
+pub trait TemplateExt: Sized + Template {
+    fn response(self, tera: &Arc<tera::Tera>) -> TemplateResponse<Self> {
+        TemplateResponse::new(tera, self)
+    }
+
+    fn page(self, headers: &HeaderMap) -> Page<Self> {
+        Page::new(self).headers(headers)
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T: Sized + Template> TemplateExt for T {}
+
+/// A specific instance of a template. This type can be used as a return type from Axum handlers.
+pub struct TemplateResponse<T> {
+    tera: Arc<tera::Tera>,
+    template: T,
+}
+
+impl<T> TemplateResponse<T> {
+    pub fn new(tera: &Arc<tera::Tera>, template: T) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            tera: Arc::clone(&tera),
+            template,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T: Template> IntoResponse for TemplateResponse<T> {
+    fn into_response(self) -> Response<Body> {
+        match self.template.render(&self.tera) {
+            Ok(s) => Html(s).into_response(),
+            Err(err) => {
+                tracing::error!("tera template failed: {err}");
+
+                StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR.into_response()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn initialize_tera() -> tera::Result<tera::Tera> {
+    let mut tera = tera::Tera::default();
+
+    tera.add_raw_templates([
+        (BASE_TEMPLATE, include_str!("templates/base.html")),
+        (View::Index.template(), include_str!("templates/index.html")),
+    ])?;
+
+    Ok(tera)
+}
diff --git a/src/web/page.rs b/src/web/page.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ba40c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/web/page.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+use axum::http::{HeaderMap, HeaderValue};
+
+use super::Template;
+
+const HX_REQUEST_HEADER: &str = "HX-Request";
+const HX_HISTORY_RESTORE_HEADER: &str = "HX-History-Restore-Request";
+
+/// Overarching template type that conditionally wraps its inner template with the base template if
+/// required, as derived from the request headers
+pub struct Page<T> {
+    template: T,
+    wrap_with_base: bool,
+}
+
+impl<T: Template> Template for Page<T> {
+    fn template(&self) -> &'static str {
+        self.template.template()
+    }
+
+    fn render(&self, tera: &tera::Tera) -> tera::Result<String> {
+        let inner = self.template.render(tera)?;
+
+        if self.wrap_with_base {
+            let mut ctx = tera::Context::new();
+            ctx.insert("inner", &inner);
+
+            tera.render(super::BASE_TEMPLATE, &ctx)
+        } else {
+            Ok(inner)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> Page<T> {
+    pub fn new(template: T) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            template,
+            wrap_with_base: false,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn headers(mut self, headers: &HeaderMap) -> Self {
+        let is_htmx_req = headers.get(HX_REQUEST_HEADER).is_some();
+        let is_hist_restore_req = headers
+            .get(HX_HISTORY_RESTORE_HEADER)
+            .map(|val| val == HeaderValue::from_static("true"))
+            .unwrap_or(false);
+
+        self.wrap_with_base = !is_htmx_req || is_hist_restore_req;
+
+        self
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/web/templates/base.html b/src/web/templates/base.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1894e72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/web/templates/base.html
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en">
+    <head>
+        <script src="/static/htmx_2.0.4.min.js" integrity="sha384-HGfztofotfshcF7+8n44JQL2oJmowVChPTg48S+jvZoztPfvwD79OC/LTtG6dMp+"></script>
+        <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/pico_2.1.1.classless.jade.min.css" />
+        <meta charset="utf-8" />
+        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
+        <meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark" />
+        <style type="text/css">
+a:hover {
+    cursor:pointer;
+}
+        </style>
+    </head>
+    <body>
+        <main>
+            <nav>
+            </nav>
+            <article id="content">
+                {{ inner | safe }}
+            </article>
+        </main>
+    </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/src/web/templates/index.html b/src/web/templates/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6fc5b55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/web/templates/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<h1>Otter</h1>
+
+Otter is a self-hostable Gpodder implementation.
diff --git a/src/web/view.rs b/src/web/view.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da51c86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/web/view.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+use super::Template;
+
+pub enum View {
+    Index,
+}
+
+impl Template for View {
+    fn template(&self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Self::Index => "index.html",
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn render(&self, tera: &tera::Tera) -> tera::Result<String> {
+        tera.render(self.template(), &tera::Context::new())
+    }
+}