Pozzuoli Top 10

The temple of Serapis isn’t a temple! It’s true that at centre has some columns that looks like a little altar but, trust us, isn’t a temple. It is the “macellum” the ancient market of Pozzuoli. This archaeological site was wrongly considered a temple because when the excavations began it was found a statue of the Egyptian god Serapis, so the experts thought it was a temple him dedicated. The temple is also a sort of bradyseism meter: the base of the temple is connected by natural tunnels to the sea. When the bradysism is passive (when the town falls in relation to the sea level) the floor of the market disappears under several centimetres of water, making the temple even more beautiful.

When: Always.
Tickets: Free entrance, the temple is in the middle of the town, near the port of Pozzuoli.

The Flavian Amphitheatre was built for order of the emperor Vespasian and it was the seat of theatrical representations, musical concerts and, obviously, gladiators combats. According to some sources it seems that in the amphitheatre also took place true sea battles thanks to a particular mechanism that flooded the lower part of the arena. During the High Middle Age the Flavian Amphitheatre was buried under volcanic debris and this made possible to maintain intact the underneath of the structure. The finding of these undergrounds completely conserved allow the historicists to study how worked the system of pulleys and cages that brought to the surface of the arena the wild animals against which the gladiators fought. An impartial tip to our readers: when you’ll be at the centre of the amphitheatre, even if the temptation will be very strong, don’t put up a poor show shouting: “Spaniard! Spaniard!”

When: Every day, from 9 am to one hour before the sunset. The ticket office closes one hour before.
Tickets: 4€ this ticket comprehends the Amphitheatre Flavio in Pozzuoli, the archaeological site of the Romans Spa and the Castle of Baia.
How to get here: by feet, 5 minutes from the metro station of Pozzuoli.

Pozzuoli’s city dwellers often says that in this town, if you only move a stone, you’ll find antiques that only waits to be discovered. Actually that’s how the Antonino Pio stadium was found. It has been opened to the visitors in October 2008 after 2000 years. This archaeological site was covered from soil and scrubs. The emperor Antonino Pio wanted this stadium to be built because he wanted to organize Olympic games in Pozzuoli, in the same town where his predecessor was buried. These Olympic games, called “Eusebia” took place in this stadium, which is 300 meters long and 70 meters wide. The structure previsioned two entrances: one to the spectators and one to the athletes, and like all the Roman constructions dedicated to the games, the Antonino Pio stadium was divided into three parts, one for every social class of the Roman society.
During the centuries the Stadium was altered and its use has been sometimes partial and sometimes different from its original purpose. After the eruption of the Monte Nuovo the site was completely covered by debris. Nowadays this Stadium it’s divided in two parts because in the middle of it was built the highway Domitiana in 1932, which cut it without any respect… as Pearl Jam sing: “It’s evolution, baby!”

Where: Via Campi Flegrei How to get here: Bus N° 152 e M1

The Solfatara in Pozzuoli is one of the most active and particular volcanoes of the world and its presence in the Phlegraean fields is very important for all Naples surroundings. The magma that is under the “burning fields” find its way to escape in this volcano, that succeed in controlling the pressure of the underneath gases. The Solfatara doesn’t look like a volcano: it hasn’t got a mountain shape with smoking mouth, but it’s a very hot ground and boiling mud lakes sweep. During your visit, if you bring with you some paper (a newspaper for example) and a Zippo lighter, you can make an experiment: Burn the newspaper as a torch and draw up it to one of the hole in the ground: after few seconds you’ll see all the holes of the ground smoking hard. That’s the result of the augment of the heat generated. Recent studies shows that the sulphurous vapours of the Solfatara are very helpful to the sexual activity. After this, does anyone still want to complain about the bad smell?!?

When: every day from 8,30 am to one hour before the sunset.
Tickets: 6€, Reduced ticket € 5. Free for the child up to 4 years old.
How to get here: by feet, 10 minutes from the metro station of Pozzuoli, or by bus: N° 152, P9 or M1.

The Averno lake it’s the entrance of the hell, as Virgil tell us in the beginning of his masterpiece the Eneide. The identification of this lake as the main door of the hell is due to its origins: The Averno lake is in the mouth of an inactive volcano: in the past, thanks to the volcanic exhalations, the birds which flew over the lake died instantaneously. That’s why the ancient Romans used to call it “Aornon”, which means “place without birds”. Therefore it’s easy to understand why Virgil thought it was a demoniac place, point of connection between the land of the living and of the dead. Nowadays the Averno lake has a beautiful appearance with a charming lakeside, where a lot of people have jogging or have just a walk. Near the lake there’s the Sybil’s cave. The legend tells that this cave it’s linked with the Sybil’s cavern in Cuma.This cave was actually dig into the tuff to allow the passage of the military which arrived with their boats in Portus Julius. Today the cave is guarded by a nice old men called Charon, his nickname comes from his father, who at the beginning of 1900 carried on his back the visitor bringing them to one side to other of the cave.

The acropolis of Cuma is all that remains of the ancient city settled by the ancient Greeks around 740 BC. The archaeological park presents years of history perfectly conserved and it’s a precious testify of how the city was organized. The history of Cuma is about a very powerful city, which knew how to connect maritime activities to the country work. Cuma succeeded in resisting other populations attacks more then Pozzuoli, because it was in a privileged position: it was higher then Pozzuoli and it was a fortified city. Into the Acropolis of Cuma there’s the Sybil’s cavern, a suggestive and mystic place where Aeneas went to meet the prophetess. The Sybil was a priestess of the god Apollo who wrote her prophecies on the leaves that the wind brought into the long stone corridor that arrived into the priestess room. The legend tells that the god Apollo gave her the possibility to fulfil a wish in exchange of her devotion as a priestess. The Sybil asked to live so many years as so many grains of sand her hand could contain, but she forgot to ask the eternal youth, so her body inexorably aged, up to be consumed completely. In the cavern remained only her voice. According to Virgil the Sybil predicted the future to Aeneas and drove him to the Averno lake to make him enter into the Hell to look for his father.

When: Every day from 9 am to one hour before the sunset.
Tickets: 4€, this ticket comprehends the Flavian Amphitheatre in Pozzuoli, the archaeological site of the Romans Spa and the Castle.

Caligula it’s maybe one of the strangest emperors of all Romans history. He was very weird, no doubt about this: the sources tell about an unsociable person, very self-centred and ready to obtain everything he wanted no matter what. He had all the characteristics to become a perfect tyrant. In Pozzuoli, Caligula showed all his madness asking to build a dock. If we tell you this it doesn’t seem so strange, the great emperors of the past always took care of the public works. The thing that highlights its madness is that he wanted this dock to make a long bridge to connect Ischia with Pozzuoli. Why? Because he wanted to reach Ischia riding his horse. Recent studies revealed that maybe Caligula suffered from personality disorders due to “lead poisoning”. This illness was very diffused at that time because Romans used to bottle the wine in lead amphorae to keep it fresh. This is a plausible reason of his insanity, but not complete in our opinion: don’t forget that Caligula was the emperor who nominated his horse for consul!

The promenade is one of the most attended places of Pozzuoli, during the day and the night. It’s the place of the Phlegraean night life: here there are pubs, restaurants, pizzerias, ice-cream parlours and the coolest clubs of the town. In the summertime it’s impossible to find a place to park your car in the evening. It’s better to come by feet, so you can also enjoy the landscape. The promenade of Pozzuoli has changed so many names that is difficult to understand which is the current. This zone was called, in Neapolitan dialect “ngopp’ a loppa”, (literally “on the loppa”) where loppa was the word used to call the rocky scraps of the factory of Italsider which was deposited there. After the twinning with the Russian city Yalta, the promenade was dedicated to the soviet town. Nowadays the promenade is dedicated to Sandro Pertini (a beloved ex-president of the Republic), but everybody still call it “Via Napoli” because it has always been the street that connected Pozzuoli with Naples.

To make you understand how important this Sanctuary is you must tell you the story of this Saint. During the persecution of Christianity, Gennaro was arrested under order of the governor Dragonzio with other Christians. They was brought in the Flavian Amphitheatre to be tore apart from wild animals (someone talks about bears, others about wolves or lions), but the animals didn’t attack the prisoners, quite the reverse, they docilely stopped near the saint feet. The governor, got angry for this, decided to cut the saint head off. The execution took place at the Solfatara. Few people knows that the famous blood that every year liquefies was collected in Pozzuoli and that the stone where the saint was beheaded is in this sanctuary. The 19th September, when the blood of the saint liquefies, the blood remained on the stone become brighter. It’s like the miracle took place in Pozzuoli too.

When: every day
Where: Via San Gennaro - Pozzuoli
How to get here: bus 152 and M1

The Monte Nuovo is the youngest volcano of Europe, he rose during the eruption of 1538. Its birth is an incredible story: sources of that time tells that this mountain was born in only two days. The 28 September 1538 the sea receded by almost 400 meters, leaving on the sand a lot of fishes, the population thought about a divine benediction. But in 24 hours the same divinity unleashed the apocalypse. The ground ripped and swallowed up the medieval city of Tripergola, fishing out lava, stones and incandescent muds. The quantity material that was sweated out from the bowels of the earth was so much that the surroundings were enveloped in a sort of big cloud that took two days to dissolve. Nowadays the youngest volcano of Europe is inactive, and at its mountainside there’s a thick vegetation.

Where: 10 minutes from the cumana station, stop “Arco Felice”
When: every day from 9 am to one hour before the sunset. Saturday and Sunday there’s the possibility to make guided excursions in the Oasis.