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:: Phlegrean Fields



The Phlegrean Fields comprises that area North-East of Naples known as the mythological " Land of Cyclops". They were giants with only one eye dedicated to the raising of cattle and sheep. When human beings made them angry they threw huge rocks at them to defend themselves. Obviously these giants were and still are volcanoes. The area has a long history of volcanic activity but is distinct from the Vesuvius complex.  Unfortunately, the Phlegrean Fields are far from extinct and both hydrothermal activity and bradyseism activity are common. The latter term is for the rising and falling of the local land surface over time as a result of the changing magma chamber (situated under Pozzuoli Harbour). Although the magma chamber is relatively small, the depth is also shallow (around 4.5 km below the surface), making slight fluctuations easily propagated to the surface.

 

 

 

POZZUOLI

The whole area is a  mix of towns built  in extinct craters and villages built on the shores of volcanic lakes, for example Lake Avernus, believed by the ancients to be the entrance to Hades. The most interesting towns from an archeological point of view are Pozzuoli and Cumae,  built in the centre of a giant caldera that marks an eruption around 35,000 years ago (known as the Campanian Ignimbrite). But there are many other villages with an historical background such as Miseno, Bacoli, Baia. Pozzuoli is the largest town of the Phlegrean Fields. It was a Roman port and its amphitheatre "Flavio" represents the ancient importance of this town as it is one of the largest in the world second only to the Colosseum in Rome and the Arena in Verona. The Solfatara is an active volcanoe from which sulfuric gases and 110 C° water spout out, and resembles a moonsacape. At Cumae, one of the first Greek colonies of 'Magnae Grecia' you can see the ruined Acropolis temples, the amphitheatre, and the " Cave of the Sibyl of Cumae".