Pozzuoli

Coordinates: 40°50′40″N 14°05′36″E / 40.84444°N 14.09333°E / 40.84444; 14.09333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Puteoli
)
Pozzuoli
Rione Terra, the first settlement
Rione Terra, the first settlement
Coat of arms of Pozzuoli
Location of Pozzuoli
Map
UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
80078, 80014, 80125
Dialing code081
Patron saintSt. Proculus
Saint day16 November
WebsiteOfficial website
Pozzuoli and surroundings

Pozzuoli (Italian pronunciation:

Phlegrean Peninsula
.

History

The ancient Macellum of Pozzuoli was a market building, erroneously identified as a Serapeum when a statue of Serapis was discovered

Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia (Greek: Δικαιαρχία) founded in about 531 BC in Magna Graecia with the consent of nearby Cumae when refugees from Samos escaped from the tyranny of Polycrates.[3]

The

Samnite War from 341 BC marked the start of the Romanisation of the Greek-Samnite city.[citation needed
]

During the

Roman colony
from 195 BC. The Roman conquest of the east and the need for a port to trade made it the Mediterranean port of Rome, even though it was 150 miles away. It took the name Puteoli whose roots are in the Latin puteus (well or cistern).
[7] An alternative etymology of Puteoli derives from the Latin puteo (to stink), referring to the sulfuric fumes in the area, most notably from Solfatara.[8]

Puteoli became the great emporium for the

mosaics, wrought iron, and marble. Lucilius wrote in about 125 BC that it was second only to Delos in importance, then the greatest harbour of the ancient world. Many inscriptions show that a polyglot population established companies (stationes) for trade and transport and formed professional guilds for arts, crafts and religious associations for foreign cults; they included Greeks from the islands and the coast of Asia, Jews and later Christians. Under the Roman Empire, it was the greatest emporium of foreign trade in all of Italy. Trade with Tyre was so important that the Tyrians established a factory there in 174 (C.I. no. 5853).[citation needed
]

The

]

The local volcanic sand,

reacted chemically with water. Instead of just evaporating slowly off, the water would turn this sand/lime mix into a mortar strong enough to bind lumps of aggregate into a load-bearing unit. This made it possible to construct the cupola of the Pantheon, which is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.[10]

The

apostle Paul landed here on his way to Rome, 170 miles (274 kilometres) away, stayed for seven days (Acts 28:13, 14), and then began with his companions his journey by the Appian Way to Rome.[citation needed
]

In 37 AD, Puteoli was the location for a political stunt by Emperor

astrologer's prediction that he had "no more chance of becoming Emperor than of riding a horse across the Gulf of Baiae".[11]

With the development of the port of Ostia begun by Claudius in 42 AD, completed by Nero in 54 and enlarged by Trajan between 100 and 106, the fortunes of Puteoli began to decline, although Antoninus Pius repaired the pier's storm damage in 139. Nero's abortive attempt to build the Fossa Neronis canal from Puteoli to Rome may have prolonged its life. As a reward for their support in the fight against Vitellius, Vespasian (r. 69-79 AD) installed more veterans there, assigned the city a part of the Capuan territory and gave it the title Colonia Flavia which it retained.[citation needed]

Hadrian died at Baiae in 138 and was interred at Cicero's villa at Puteoli,[12] though his body was later transferred to Rome.

Two aqueducts eventually served Puteoli; the Campanian aqueduct dating from the 1st c. BC at the latest,[13] and also the Aqua Augusta. Several cisterns still exist, including the very large Piscina di Cardito.[14]

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 of 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 day on the second Sunday in May.[15]

The city was taken and plundered by

Genseric in 455, and by Totila in 545, from which it took centuries to recover.[citation needed
]

Charles Lyell visited Pozzuoli in 1828 and studied the Macellum columns.

Since 1946, the town has been the home of the Accademia Aeronautica, the Italian Air Force Academy, which was first situated on the island of Nisida, then from 1962 on a purpose-built hilltop campus overlooking the bay.

From August 1982 to December 1984, the city experienced hundreds of tremors and

bradyseismic activity, which peaked on 4 October 1983, damaging 8,000 buildings in the city centre and displacing 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.[citation needed] There was similar seismic activity in 2023.[16]

Main sights

Flavian Amphitheatre
Temple of Augustus in the Cathedral
Mausolea lining Roman Road to Naples

The town's attractions include:

  • Flavian Amphitheatre (Amphitheatrum Flavium), the third largest Italian amphitheatre after the Colosseum and the Capuan Amphitheatre
  • The Macellum of Pozzuoli, also known as the Temple of Serapis or serapeum, is considered the city's symbol. The "temple" was a marketplace. Its name derives from the misinterpretation of its function after a statue of the god Serapis was found in 1750. The Macellum includes three majestic columns in Cipollino marble, which show erosion from marine Lithophaga molluscs when, at an earlier time, the ground level was much lower due to Bradyseism, and sea-water could flow in.[17]
  • Temple of Augustus (part of the cathedral)
  • Smaller Amphitheatre, very close to the Flavian one, its remains were absorbed by other buildings, but some arches can be seen by Via Solfatara and Via Vign
  • Roman Baths, the so-called Temple of Neptune, are the remains of a big thermal complex now in Corso Terracciano, which also included the nearby "Dianae Nymphaeum".
  • The Villa Avellino park has several Roman ruins and cisterns. There is also a still working Roman "face" water fountain.
  • Rione Terra, the first settlement of Puteoli, originally Dicearkia in Greek.
  • Necropolis of Via Celle, a rich complex of tombs and mausoleums, very near to an old Roman road still used today (Via Cupa Cigliano).
  • Necropolis of the Via Puteolis Capuam, just under the bridge that leads outside the city near Via Solfatara.
  • Stadium of Antoninus Pius, a very similar stadium to the Domitian one in Rome, partially excavated (Via Campi Flegrei).
  • The Piscina di Cardito cistern, second in size only to the Piscina Mirabilis, and used as a settlement tank for the water supply from the Aqua Augusta aqueduct.
  • Sanctuary of San Gennaro (
    Cathedral of Naples
    , it is one of the two places where the alleged miracle of the liquefaction of the saint's blood occurs.
  • fumaroles
    )

Transportation

It is easily reached by train from

station of Montesanto
, in the city center.

Neighbouring communes

Notable people

  • Januarius, Patron Saint of Naples, executed at Solfatara c. 305.
  • Josephus landed there on his way to Rome (The Life of Flavius Josephus; 3.16).
  • leprologist
    , was born there.
  • Sophia Loren, film actress, grew up there.
  • Gilbert, Count of Montpensier, Viceroy of Naples, died there on 15 October 1496.
  • Saint Paul, the Apostle
    landed there on his way to Rome (Acts 28:13).
  • Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Baroque composer, died there.
  • Lucius Cornelius Sulla
    , Dictator of Rome, died at his villa there.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  3. ^ Puteoli, perseus.tufts.edu. Accessed 27 February 2023.
  4. ^ E. T. Salmon, Samnium and the Samnites, Cambridge 1967, pp. 71-72
  5. ^ Livy 24.7, pp. 12-13.
  6. ^ Silius Italicus Punica (The Second Carthaginian War) Book XII
  7. ^ "Comune di Pozzuoli (NA)".
  8. ^ John Everett-Heath, ed. (2010). "Pozzuoli". Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. Oxford University Press (Oxford Reference Online Premium Database).
  9. ^ Cicero, de Fat. 1, ad Att. 1.4, 14.7, 15.1)
  10. ^ Moore, David (1999). "The Pantheon". romanconcrete.com.
  11. ^ C. Suetonius Tranquillius. "Caius Caesar Caligula" The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, gutenberg.org. Accessed 27 February 2023.
  12. ^ Historia Augusta, Hadrianus 25, pp. 5-11.
  13. ^ Ferrari Graziano, Lamagna Raffaella. The Campanian Aqueduct stairway was rediscovered. Hypogea 2015 - International congress of speleology in artificial cavities
  14. ^ "Piscina Cardito, una cisterna per il foro di Puteoli". 27 January 2017.
  15. ^ Turismo: Pozzuoli, icampiflegrei.it. Accessed 27 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Italy plans for mass evacuation as quakes continue around supervolcano". The Guardian. 5 October 2023.
  17. .

Bibliography

External links

Media related to Pozzuoli at Wikimedia Commons