Pozzuoli was the Roman city with the biggest port. It was a commercial city, which had contacts with the most important cities in the Mediterranean sea.

The Greek foundation

Pozzuoli was founded by the Greeks with the name of Dicearchia in 531 BC. In fact, in the south of Italy there was the big Greek colonization since the 8th century BC. This city is placed in the Phlegraean Fields, a huge Greek-Roman area.

A Roman city

In Pozzuoli there are three important places to see. There is the big Amphitheater, the third one in Italy. There is an ancient Roman Market. In fact Pozzuoli became a Roman city in 196 BC. And finally there is the Volcano Solfatara, a big inactive caldera, since the Phlegraean Fields are a huge volcanic area.

The Romans used to come to the Phlegraean Fields because of the warm temperature and the ancient Spa. This was the area for their vacation and relaxation.

Volcano Solfatara

In a tour like this we can start from the Volcano Solfatara. We can enter inside a real volcano and feel the typical smell of rotten egg. We can still see some smoking fumaroles and the ancient stoves for thermal treatments. There is even a well with thermal water used to treat infertility. A lot of legends were made up in the past about this place. Some people even thought that this was a sort of entrance to the hell.

The amphitheater

After Volcano Solfatara we can see the Amphitheater. It’s a huge Amphitheater built in the first century AD, which can contain approximately forty thousand spectators. The most interesting thing is the underground area. From the area under the arena the wild animals were raised and they suddenly appeared to the spectators. Walking in this underground area is very exciting. It’s like to go back at the time of the Roman gladiators shows.

Later we can go to the city center of Pozzuoli.

The Roman market

In Pozzuoli there was the biggest Roman port. Here a lot of products arrived from all the Mediterranean. It was a wealthy, chaotic city. You can imagine a crowd of people living and working here. That’s why right in the city center there was a big Roman Market.

Nowadays we can see the remains of this market. It is called the Temple of Serapis, because a statue of this god was found in the area: different people came to Pozzuoli and different religions were professed too. Really, this is a wrong name, a kind of nickname. It was just a market, that now is placed some meters under the sea level. In fact, in the area there is a famous phenomenon called bradisism. Because of bradisism the ground in the area is sometimes lowering and lifting. This is a phenomenon related to the volcanic activity in the area, since the Phlegraean Fields are a volcanic area. For example, when the magma is going up, there is a movement of the ground too.

Anyway, just remember that Pozzuoli was a very important Roman city. That’s why it’s really worth seeing at the structures of a typical Roman city!