Visits
Cultural Itineraries
Archaeological Park
It is one of the largest Phlegraean nuclei and is a thermal complex conventionally divided into five sectors: Venus, Sosandra, Terraces, Mercury, and lower thermal baths.
Furthermore a majestic dome with a pointed profile known as the Temple of Diana can be foud just outside the Archaeological Park.
Aragonese Castle of Baia
Majestic and imposing, the Castle of Baia is situated on the hill where once Julius Caesar’s villa was thought to be located. It occupies a strategic position in the Gulf of Pozzuoli. The construction of the castle was ordered by King Alfonso II of Aragon around 1490-95. It was then enlarged by the Spanish viceroy don Pedro de Toledo after Monte Nuovo eruption (1538). Starting from 1927 it was used as military orphanage. Today a considerable part of it is the host of the museum of Phlegraean Fields.
Archaeological Museum of Phlegraean Fields
It has been housed inside the Castle of Baia since September 1993. Worth visiting are the rooms where you can find the reproduction of the “Sacello Augustali” (chapel of the Roman emperors) and the “Ninfeo Imperiale Sommerso” (the submerged imperial temple of the nymphs) as well as a bronze equestrian statue of Domitiano Nerva and many plaster casts of Greek sculptures found in Baia area.
CUMA
Core of the classic civilization and root of Italian history, Cuma was praised by Virgilio in its poem Aeneid for the “Sybilla Cavern”.
In its acropolis are still present Greek walls, built at the end of the 5th century b.C., with some recreations made in the following centuries b.C.
Inside the urban area of Cuma are present the ruins of Apollo’s Temple, Jupiter’s Temple, a huge thermal building of ancient Roman period, the Amphitheatre and the Forum as well as the Roman Crypt.
Near Cuma one can see the “Arco Felice” building too.
Nature trails
Between Baia and Cuma three lakes (Lucrino, Averno and Fusaro) are present: walking around them you may enjoy wonderful nature itineraries. Near Lucrino lake there is Monte Nuovo, the youngest of the Phlegraean Fields: from its summit one can view the entire Gulf of Pozzuoli.
The volcano scope are covered with a dense Mediterranean maquis, which in several points evolves into a live-oak forest; the southern side is carpeted by pines as well as Graminae like Hyparrenia hirta and Ampelodesmos muritanicus; further up one reaches an area of low, sparse shruberry which includes plants like helichrysum and yellow-flower shrubs called ginestra.
Monte Nuovo is now a naturalistic oasis where guided tours both for students and for tourists are organized.
“Centum Caellae”
This construction is one of the most amazing find of ancient Rome. It’s made of a net of narrow tunnels dig in a tuff mountain, crossing one another along a path looking like a fiendish maze.
In the past this construction, owing to its pattern, was known as “Nero’s Prisons” (the Roman Emperor), but they were most likely part of a huge patrician villa built by Romans near Baia.
“Piscina Mirabilis”
It is a huge excavation with very high naves that was used as tank of drinking water for the Magistrate Fleet of Miseno. Built in the period of August the Emperor, it is a real masterpiece of engineering and architecture. It was dug in volcanic stone by the Romans and it is the biggest holding tank that was brought to light among all the roman ruins: it is 72m long, 25m wide and 15m high with a total capacity of 12.600 cubic metres. It is certainly the main tank of waterworks converging Serino river water up to Naples and Phlegraean Fields.
Submerged City
Along Phlegraean Fields coast there is one of the largest and most important submersed Archaeological areas found out in Italy up to now. Actually many centuries ago Baia as well as its harbour, the thermal baths, and the plush villas of patrician Romans were first destroyed by a cataclysm; then they were covered by the sea owing to bradyseismic events whose alternating bottom up and up bottom phases submerged everything, so the ancient ground line is now set in a range between 4 and 16 meters below sea level, where is something like a “submerged Pompei”.
CUMA
Core of the classic civilization and root of Italian history, Cuma was praised by Virgilio in its poem Aeneid for the “Sybilla Cavern”.
In its acropolis are still present Greek walls, built at the end of the 5th century b.C., with some recreations made in the following centuries b.C.
Inside the urban area of Cuma are present the ruins of Apollo’s Temple, Jupiter’s Temple, a huge thermal building of ancient Roman period, the Amphitheatre and the Forum as well as the Roman Crypt.
Near Cuma one can see the “Arco Felice” building too.
Nature trails
Between Baia and Cuma three lakes (Lucrino, Averno and Fusaro) are present: walking around them you may enjoy wonderful nature itineraries. Near Lucrino lake there is Monte Nuovo, the youngest of the Phlegraean Fields: from its summit one can view the entire Gulf of Pozzuoli.
The volcano scope are covered with a dense Mediterranean maquis, which in several points evolves into a live-oak forest; the southern side is carpeted by pines as well as Graminae like Hyparrenia hirta and Ampelodesmos muritanicus; further up one reaches an area of low, sparse shruberry which includes plants like helichrysum and yellow-flower shrubs called ginestra.
Monte Nuovo is now a naturalistic oasis where guided tours both for students and for tourists are organized.
Cultural Itineraries
