POZZUOLI

'Pozzuoli' is a city of the province of Napoli, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.

Contents

History

Main sights

Famous people

Transportation

Twinnings

Neighbouring communes

Bibliography

External links

History

Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia''. The Roman colony was established in 194 BC, and took the Latin name ''Puteoli'' 'little wells', referring to the many hot springs in the area, most notably in the Solfatara. This is due to the fact that Pozzuoli lies in the center of the Campi Flegrei, a caldera.
Puteoli was the great emporium for the Alexandrian grain ships, and other ships from all over the Roman world. It also was the main hub for goods exported from Campania, including blown glass, mosaics, wrought iron, and marble. The Roman naval base at nearby Misenum housed the largest naval fleet in the ancient world.
The local volcanic sand formed the basis for the first effective concrete, as it reacted chemically with water. Instead of just evaporating slowly off, the water would turn this sand/lime mix into a mortar strong enough to bind lumps of aggregate into a load-bearing unit. This made possible the cupola of the Pantheon, the first real dome.
The apostle Paul landed here on his way to Rome, from which it was 170 miles distant. Here he stayed for seven days (''Acts'' 28:13, 14) and then began with his companions his journey by the Appian Way to Rome.

Puteoli was the location for a spectacular stunt (in 37 AD) by the eccentric Caligula, who on becoming Emperor ordered a temporary floating bridge to be built using ships as pontoons, stretching for over two miles from the town to the famous neighboring resort of Baiae, across which he proceeded to ride his horse, in defiance of an astrologer's prediction that he had "no more chance of becoming Emperor than of riding a horse across the Gulf of Baiae."
Saint Proculus (San Procolo) was martyred here with his companions in the fourth century, and is the city's patron saint. The seven eagle heads on the coat-of-arms for the town of Pozzuoli are said to represent seven of these martyrs. November 16 was the official feast day for Saint Proculus. St. Proculus was affectionately nicknamed 'u pisciasotto'' ("the pants-pisser") because November 16 was often a day of rain. The townspeople also celebrated his feast on the second Sunday in May.[1]
From August 1982 to December 1984 the city experienced hundreds of tremors and bradyseismic activity which reached a peak on October 4, 1983 damaging 8,000 buildings in the city center and dislocating 36,000 people, many permanently. The events raised the sea bottom by almost 2 m, and rendered the Bay of Pozzuoli too shallow for large craft.

Main sights

The town has a number of tourist attractions. These include:

★ The ''Macellum'' or ''Temple of Serapis'', considered the city's symbol. The name dervies from the finding of a statue of the god Serapis in 1750. It includes three majestic columns in cipolin marble, which show erosion from mollusc when the soil's level was lower that in current times.

★ ''Amphitheatrum Flavium'', the third in size in Italy after the Colosseum and the Capuan amphitheatre. It was built probably by the same architects who designed the Colosseum, slightly later of the latter, during the reigns of Vespasianus and Titus. It could contain up to 20,000 spectators. In the subterraneans are remains of the cogs used to raise the cages housing the wild animals for the spectacles. The structure has elliptic plan, measuring 147 x 117 meters. The arean proper measures 72.22 x 42.33 m.

★ Solfatara (volcanic crater with active fumaroles)

★ Forum

★ Sanctuary of ''San Gennaro'' (St. Januarius). It is one of the two places in which the alleged miracle of the liquefaction of the saint's blood occurs, together with the Cathedral of Naples.

★ Lake Averno, in which Virgil, in the 6th book of his ''Aeneid'', placed the entrance of the Hell. The names derives from Greek, and means "Without Birds", referring to the absence of birds due to the sulfur gas that sprung from it. Nearby are the Temple of Apollo, the Grotto of the Cumaean Sibyl and Cocceiu's Grotto, a gallery carved by the Romans to connect Lucrino to Cumae. The latter was damaged during World War II and is no more visitable.

★ Lake Lucrino, in the omonymous ''frazione'', not far from the former. It was also considered an infernal place, due to similar volcanic phenomena. It was a renowned resort in Roman times, including the villa of Cicero, which later held the remains of emperor Hadrian after his death. It is also cited in Pliny the Elder's ''Naturalis historia'' (ix, 25) as the home of a dolphin who had made friends with a child. According to Pliny, when the child fell ill and died, the dolphin died of broken heart also. The tale is considered the first known Urban legend.

Famous people

★ The Roman Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla died at his villa here

★ The actress Sofia Loren, born in Rome, grew up here.

★ Saint Paul, the Apostle landed here on his way to Rome. (Acts 28:13)

Transportation

It is easily reached by train from Naples, on the metro 'Linea 2'.

Twinnings

★ - Agios Dimitrios, a suburb of Athens in Greece

Neighbouring communes

★ Bacoli

★ Giugliano in Campania

★ Monte di Procida

★ Naples

★ Quarto

Bibliography

★ Paolo Amalfitano and others, ''I Campi Flegrei'', Venice 1990

★ Piero Alfredo Gianfrotta, Fabio Maniscalco (eds.), ''Forma Maris. Forum Internazionale di Archeologia Subacquea'', Puteoli 1998

★ ''Puteoli. Studi di Storia Romana''

External links

★ www.flegrei.com

★ Mapquest - Pozzuoli

★ Kub Foto Pozzuoli