Pozzuoli

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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.

History

Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia, that was renamed Puteoli by the Romans. Both Dicaerchia and Puteoli were one of the most important cities of the ancient world.

The Roman colony there was established in 194 BC. The name comes from the Latin word for little wells, referring to the many hydrothermal vents in the area.

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 apostle Paul is traditionally supposed having landed here on his way to Rome, from which it was 170 miles distant. Here he would have tarried for seven days (Acts 28:13, 14) and with his companions began their 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.^*

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:

Amphitheatre
Solfatara (volcanic crater with active fumaroles)
Forum

In the late 1960s Pozzuoli became famous when the harbor bottom rose close to the surface due to Geo-Volcanic forces and exposed ancient Roman temples, which can still be seen.

Famous people

The Roman Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla died at his villa here
The actress Sofia Loren was born here.

Transportation

It is easily reached by train from Naples.

Twinnings

- Agios Dimitrios, a suburb of Athens in Greece

Neighbouring communes

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

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Towns in Campania | Roman colonies | Roman sites of Campania | Cumaean colonies | Eruption of Vesuvius, AD79

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