A tunnel then the sea
You walk in darkness and silence and emerge suddenly on the coast.
Armando Mancini — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lucamato — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lucamato — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lucamato — CC BY-SA 4.0
An archaeological site on Naples's western coast holding the remains of an enormous Roman villa built in the first century BC by the wealthy Publius Vedius Pollio. The site's name is Greek and means the cessation of sorrow, and from it comes the name of the Posillipo district. The approach is itself part of the experience: you enter through the Grotta di Seiano — a Roman tunnel cut through the rock for seven hundred and seventy metres, dug to link the villa to the city. You walk in darkness and silence and then emerge suddenly onto the sea. The site holds a Roman theatre seating two thousand, a small covered odeon, and the remains of the villa and its cistern system. The villa's owner is known for a grim story told by the historians: he fed slaves who displeased him to the moray eels in his ponds, until the emperor Augustus rebuked him for it during a banquet. Entry is free but by guided tour at set times — check in advance.
You walk in darkness and silence and emerge suddenly on the coast.
Roman, on a slope overlooking the bay.
Historians record the owner feeding slaves to them until Augustus rebuked him.
Posillipo, western Naples
A volcanic area west of Naples called the Campi Flegrei, a vast caldera holding craters, lakes, sulphur springs and ancient towns. It includes Cumae — the oldest Greek colony in Italy and the cave of the Sibyl; Baiae, the Roman elite's resort, part of which sank into the sea and is visited by diving or glass-bottomed boat; and the active Solfatara crater. The area is far less visited than Pompeii despite its importance.
Access is not obvious: the site lies at the end of a narrow road in the residential Posillipo district, with the tunnel entrance at Discesa Coroglio. A local bus or a taxi from central Naples reaches it in about twenty minutes, and public transport to it is limited. Check the opening days and tour times before setting out — going without doing so usually means finding the gate shut.
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