Lake Avernus (or
Lago d'Averno in
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
) is a
volcanic3. Conduit
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14. Crater
15...
crater lakeA Crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater, such as a maar, or in a caldera. Sometimes the latter are called Caldera lakes, but often this distinction is not made...
located in the
AvernusAvernus was an ancient name for a crater near Cumae , Italy in the Region of Campania west of Naples. It is approximately 2 miles in circumference. Within the crater is Lake Avernus .-Role in ancient Roman society:...
crater in the
CampaniaCampania is a region of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,595 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
region of southern
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, around 4 km (2.5 miles) northwest of
PozzuoliPozzuoli is a city of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-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...
. It is near the volcanic field known as the
Campi FlegreiCampi Flegrei, also known as the Phlegraean Fields , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
and comprises part of the wider Campanian
volcanic arcA volcanic arc is a chain of volcanic islands or mountains formed by plate tectonics as an oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another tectonic plate and produces magma. There are two types of volcanic arcs: oceanic arcs and continental arcs...
. The lake is roughly circular, measuring 2 km (1 mile) in circumference and 60 m (213 ft) deep.
Avernus was of major importance to the
RomansAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, who considered it to be the entrance to
HadesHades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"...
.
Lake Avernus (or
Lago d'Averno in
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
) is a
volcanic3. Conduit
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14. Crater
15...
crater lakeA Crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater, such as a maar, or in a caldera. Sometimes the latter are called Caldera lakes, but often this distinction is not made...
located in the
AvernusAvernus was an ancient name for a crater near Cumae , Italy in the Region of Campania west of Naples. It is approximately 2 miles in circumference. Within the crater is Lake Avernus .-Role in ancient Roman society:...
crater in the
CampaniaCampania is a region of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,595 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
region of southern
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, around 4 km (2.5 miles) northwest of
PozzuoliPozzuoli is a city of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-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...
. It is near the volcanic field known as the
Campi FlegreiCampi Flegrei, also known as the Phlegraean Fields , is a large wide caldera situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It was declared a regional park in 2003. Lying mostly underwater, the area comprises 24 craters and volcanic edifices. Hydrothermal activity can be observed at Lucrino, Agnano and...
and comprises part of the wider Campanian
volcanic arcA volcanic arc is a chain of volcanic islands or mountains formed by plate tectonics as an oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another tectonic plate and produces magma. There are two types of volcanic arcs: oceanic arcs and continental arcs...
. The lake is roughly circular, measuring 2 km (1 mile) in circumference and 60 m (213 ft) deep.
Avernus was of major importance to the
RomansAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, who considered it to be the entrance to
HadesHades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"...
. It gained its name from the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
word
αορνος (originally
αϝορνος) meaning "birdless", referring to the belief that birds flying over the lake would drop dead from the poisonous fumes that it emitted. The name Avernus was often used by Roman writers as a synonym for the underworld. In
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works—the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the Aeneid—although several minor poems are also attributed to him.The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be...
's
AeneidThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is written in dactylic hexameter...
,
AeneasIn Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy, which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid...
descends to the underworld through a cave near the lake.
It is unclear whether the lake actually was as deadly as its reputation held it to be – it certainly holds no fears for birds today – but it is possible that volcanic activity could have produced deadly fumes. Volcanically active crater lakes can be extremely dangerous places, as illustrated by the tragic example of
Lake NyosLake Nyos is a crater lake in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, located about northwest of Yaoundé. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity...
in
CameroonThe Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of...
.
Despite the alleged dangers of the lake, the Romans were happy to settle its shores, on which villas and vineyards were established. The lake's personification, the
deus Avernus, was worshiped in lakeside temples, and a large bathhouse was built on the eastern shore of the lake.
In 37 BC, the Roman general
Marcus Vipsanius AgrippaMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus...
converted the lake into a naval base named the
Portus JuliusPortus Julius was the home port for the Roman western imperial fleet, the classis Misenensis, named for nearby Cape Miseno...
after
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. It was linked by a canal to a nearby lake (
Lucrinus LacusLucrinus Lacus, or Lucrine Lake is a lake of Campania, southern Italy, about three kilometers to the south of Lake Avernus, and only separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land, traversed by the coast road— Via Herculanea, which runs on an embankment, the construction of which was...
) and from there to the sea. The lake shore was also connected to the Greek colony of
CumaeCumae is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania...
by an underground passage known as Cocceio's Cave (
Grotta di CocceioGrotta di Cocceio, also known as the Cocceius Tunnel, is a straight-line subterranean gallery nearly a kilometer in length connecting Lake Avernus with Cumae north of Naples, Italy. It was burrowed clean through the tuff stone of Monte Grillo from 38-36 BCE...
) which was 1 km (0.6 mile) long and wide enough to be used by chariots. This was the world's first major road tunnel; it remained usable until as recently as the 1940s.
This lake was called by Italian geographers, Lago di Tripergola.