Pozzuoli is a city of the
province of NaplesThe Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...
, in the
ItalianItaly , 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...
region of
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...
. It is the main city of the
Phlegrean peninsulaCampi 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...
.
Pozzuoli began as the Greek
colonyIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
of
Dicaearchia. The Roman colony was established in 194 BC, and took the Latin name
Puteoli 'little wells', referring to the many
hot springsHot Springs may refer to:* Hot Springs, Arkansas*Hot Springs, California**Hot Springs, Lassen County, California**Hot Springs, Modoc County, California**Hot Springs, Plumas County, California* Hot Springs, Montana* Hot Springs, North Carolina...
in the area, most notably
SolfataraSolfatara is a shallow volcanic crater at Pozzuoli, near Naples, southern Italy; it is part of the Campi Flegrei volcanic area. It is a dormant volcano, which still emits jets of steam with sulphurous fumes. The name comes from the Latin, Sulpha terra, "land of sulphur", or "sulfur earth"...
. This is because Pozzuoli lies in the center of 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...
, a
calderaA caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption such as the ones at Yellowstone National Park in the US and Glen Coe in Scotland. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters. The word comes from Portuguese caldeira, and this...
.
Puteoli was the great emporium for the
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
n
grainCereals, grains or cereal grains, {as a collective} are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds - the endocarp, germ and bran...
ships, and other ships from all over the Roman world.
Pozzuoli is a city of the
province of NaplesThe Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...
, in the
ItalianItaly , 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...
region of
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...
. It is the main city of the
Phlegrean peninsulaCampi 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...
.
History
Pozzuoli began as the Greek
colonyIn politics and in history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their...
of
Dicaearchia. The Roman colony was established in 194 BC, and took the Latin name
Puteoli 'little wells', referring to the many
hot springsHot Springs may refer to:* Hot Springs, Arkansas*Hot Springs, California**Hot Springs, Lassen County, California**Hot Springs, Modoc County, California**Hot Springs, Plumas County, California* Hot Springs, Montana* Hot Springs, North Carolina...
in the area, most notably
SolfataraSolfatara is a shallow volcanic crater at Pozzuoli, near Naples, southern Italy; it is part of the Campi Flegrei volcanic area. It is a dormant volcano, which still emits jets of steam with sulphurous fumes. The name comes from the Latin, Sulpha terra, "land of sulphur", or "sulfur earth"...
. This is because Pozzuoli lies in the center of 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...
, a
calderaA caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption such as the ones at Yellowstone National Park in the US and Glen Coe in Scotland. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters. The word comes from Portuguese caldeira, and this...
.
Puteoli was the great emporium for the
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
n
grainCereals, grains or cereal grains, {as a collective} are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds - the endocarp, germ and bran...
ships, and other ships from all over the Roman world. It also was the main hub for goods exported from
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...
, including
blown glassIn general Glass refers to a solid, brittle, transparent material, commonly used for windows, bottles, or eyewear. Examples of glassy materials include, but are not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovy-glass, or aluminium oxynitride. The term glass...
, mosaics, wrought
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
, and
marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
. The
Roman navalThe Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Sea basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...
base at nearby
MisenumMisenum is the site of an ancient port in Campania, in southern Italy. It is located on a cape on the northwest end of the Bay of Naples, at modern Miseno.- History :...
housed the largest naval fleet in the ancient world.
The local volcanic sand,
pozzolanaPozzolana, also known as pozzolanic ash, is a fine, sandy volcanic ash, originally discovered and dug in Italy at Pozzuoli in the region around Vesuvius, but later at a number of other sites...
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 PaulPaul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, Paul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, Paul of Tarsus, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul, or Saint Paul, ...
landed here on his way to
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, 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 WayThe Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...
to Rome.
Puteoli was the location for a spectacular stunt (in 37 AD) by the eccentric
CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
, who on becoming Emperor ordered a temporary
floating bridgeA pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water, supported by barge-or-boat-like pontoons to support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...
to be built using ships as
pontoonsA pontoon is a flat-bottomed boat or the floats used to support a structure on water. It may be simply constructed from closed cylinders such as pipes or barrels or fabricated as boxes from metal or concrete. These may be used to support a simple platform, creating a raft. A raft supporting a...
, stretching for over two miles from the town to the famous neighboring resort of
BaiaeBaiae is a frazione of the comune of Bacoli, in the Campania region of Italy on the Bay of Naples. It was named after Baius, who was supposedly buried there. It was for several hundred years a fashionable coastal resort, especially towards the end of the period of the Roman Republic...
, across which he proceeded to ride his horse, in defiance of an
astrologerAn astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
'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 saintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person. Patron saints, because they have already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges...
. 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
rainRain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to other kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. On Earth, it is the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall, often making it to the surface...
. The townspeople also celebrated his feast day on the second Sunday in May.
http://www.icampiflegrei.it/Azienda%20Turismo/pozzuoli/articoli2003/novembre_eng.htm
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 "temple" was actually a marketplace. Its name derives from the misinterpretation of its function after a statue of the god Serapis
Serapis was a syncretic Hellenistic-Egyptian god in Antiquity. His most renowned temple was the Serapeum of Alexandria. Under Ptolemy Soter, efforts were made to integrate Egyptian religion with that of their Hellenic rulers...
was found in 1750 at this location. The Macellum includes three majestic columns in cipolin marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
, which show erosion from molluscs when, at an earlier time, the ground level was much lower due to bradyseism, and sea-water could flow in.
- Flavian Amphitheater (Amphitheatrum Flavium)
The Flavian Amphitheater , located in Pozzuoli, is the third largest Roman amphitheater in Italy. Only the Roman Colosseum and the Capuan Amphitheater are larger. It was likely built by the same architects who previously constructed the Roman Colosseum...
, the third largest Italian amphitheater after the ColosseumThe Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
and the Capuan Amphitheater.
- Solfatara
Solfatara is a shallow volcanic crater at Pozzuoli, near Naples, southern Italy; it is part of the Campi Flegrei volcanic area. It is a dormant volcano, which still emits jets of steam with sulphurous fumes. The name comes from the Latin, Sulpha terra, "land of sulphur", or "sulfur earth"...
(volcanic crater with active fumaroles)
- Sanctuary of San Gennaro (St. Januarius). With the Cathedral of Naples
The Cathedral of Naples is the main church of Naples, southern Italy. It is dedicated to San Gennaro , the city's patron. The church houses a vial of the Saint's blood that is brought out twice a year, on the first Saturday in May and 19 September, and usually liquefies...
, it is one of the two places in which the alleged miracle of the liquefaction of the saint's blood occurs.
- Lake Avernus
Lake Avernus is a volcanic crater lake located in the Avernus crater in the Campania region of southern Italy, around 4 km northwest of Pozzuoli. It is near the volcanic field known as the Campi Flegrei and comprises part of the wider Campanian volcanic arc...
, in which 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...
, in the 6th book of his 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...
, placed the entrance to Hell. The name derives from 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...
, 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 SibylThe ageless Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, Italy.The word sibyl comes from the ancient Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess...
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 longer visitable.
- Lake Lucrino, in the frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
of the same name. The lake was considered an infernal place, due to volcanic phenomena. It was a renowned resort in Roman times and included the villa of CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome...
, which later held the remains of emperor HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus was emperor of Rome from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher...
. Pliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an author, naturalist, and natural philosopher as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
cites it in Naturalis historiaFor Naturalis historia, the natural history by Pliny the Elder see Natural History .For Historia naturalis palmarum by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius see Historia naturalis palmarum....
(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 legendAn urban legend, urban myth, or urban tale, more properly a "'contemporary legend'" is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them...
.
Famous people
- Italian Baroque composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi was an Italian composer, violinist and organist.-Biography:Born at Jesi, Pergolesi studied music there under a local musician, Francesco Santini, before going to Naples in 1725, where he studied under Gaetano Greco and Francesco Feo among others...
died here.
- The Roman Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power with military control but, without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
Lucius Cornelius SullaLucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , or simply Sulla, was a Roman general and politician, holding the office of consul twice as well as the dictatorship....
died at his villa here
- The actress Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren is an Italian film actress and an international sex symbol. In 1961, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Two Women, becoming the first actor to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance....
, born in RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, grew up here.
- Saint Paul, the Apostle landed here on his way to Rome. (Acts 28:13)
- Josephus
Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70...
landed here on his way to Rome. (The Life of Flavius Josephus 3.16)
- Francesco Banchini, folk musician
- Gilbert, Count of Montpensier
Gilbert of Bourbon-Montpensier son of Louis of Bourbon and Gabrielle La Tour, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin d'Auvergne...
, Viceroy of Naples died here on 15 October 1496.
Neighbouring communes
- Bacoli
Bacoli is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 15 km west of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 27,402 and an area of 13.3 km².-History:...
- Giugliano in Campania
Giugliano in Campania is a city and comune in the province of Napoli, Campania, Italy. As of 2008, it had some 113,000 inhabitants and it is the most populated Italian city not provincial seat. It is part of Naples' metropolitan area.-History:In 5th-4th century BCE the territory of Giugliano was...
- Monte di Procida
Monte di Procida is a small comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 15 km west of Naples, facing the island of Procida. Monte di Procida includes the small island of San Martino, which was occupied by the Germans during World War II...
- Naples
Naples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
- Quarto
External links