Crypta Neapolitana, Napoli, Italy

The Crypta Neapolitana is an ancient Roman tunnel near Naples. It was built in 37 BC, and is over 700 metres long.

The tunnel passes beneath the Posillipo hill and connects Naples with the so-called Phlegrean Fields and the town of Pozzuoli along the road known as the via Domiziana.

The eastern Piedigrotta entrance is now enclosed within an archaeological park, and the site of the villa of Vedius Pollio, and later imperial villa. The site is also noteworthy for the presence of the so-called Virgil's tomb, as well as the tomb of the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi. Three secondary tunnels end in openings overhanging the bay, providing light and ventilation.

The name Grotta Seiano (Sejanus's cave) comes from the infamous Lucius Aelius Sejanus, prefect of Tiberius, who according to tradition, commissioned its enlargement in the first century AD. The first tunnel was built by the architect Lucius Cocceius Auctus for Agrippa during the civil war between Octavian and Sextus Pompeius in c.37 BC to connect the villa of Vedius Pollio and other patrician villas of Pausilypon (ancient Posillipo) to the ports of Puteoli and Cumae. The tunnel is one of a number of such works in the Naples area built by Cocceius.

The tunnel was still in use as a roadway until superseded by two modern tunnels in the early 20th century, and shows extensive restoration done by the architects of the Bourbon dynasty of Naples. During the Second World War it was used as a bomb shelter for the inhabitants of Bagnoli; the war and some landslides during the fifties put it back into a state of neglect. Today it has been restored as an archaeological site.

References:

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User Reviews

Vale (3 years ago)
Externally beautiful but it is not practicable / visitable.

Alisa Prada (4 years ago)
Overall not bad .. you can visit. But everything is closed there .. Do not go inside. The visit will take you 20-30 minutes. It's free.

Salvatore Porcellana (4 years ago)
Virgil and Leopardi above the Gulf of Naples

Humbo (4 years ago)
La Crypta Neapolitana (o Grotta di Posillipo o Grotta di Virgilio) è una galleria lunga circa 711 metri[3] scavata nel tufo della collina di Posillipo, tra Mergellina (salita della Grotta) e Fuorigrotta (via della Grotta Vecchia), a Napoli. L'ingresso principale della grotta è ubicato all'interno del parco Vergiliano a Piedigrotta di Napoli, che conserva tra l'altro anche le tombe di Giacomo Leopardi e Virgilio. La Crypta Neapolitana ha senz'altro influenzato la cultura e le tradizioni di Napoli. Tutte le credenze e i riti sorti dentro e intorno alla Crypta Neapolitana sono alla base di quella che conosciamo oggi come la Festa di Piedigrotta.

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