Pozzuoli - Main Sights

Main Sights

The town's attractions include:

• The Macellum of Pozzuoli, also known as the Temple of Serapis or serapeum, is considered the city's symbol. The "temple" was actually a marketplace. Its name derives from the misinterpretation of its function after a statue of the god Serapis was found in 1750 at this location. The Macellum includes three majestic columns in cipolin 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.
• Flavian Amphitheater (Amphitheatrum Flavium), the third largest Italian amphitheater after the Colosseum and the Capuan Amphitheater.
• Solfatara (volcanic crater with active fumaroles)
• Forum
• Sanctuary of San Gennaro (St. Januarius). With the Cathedral of Naples, it is one of the two places in which the alleged miracle of the liquefaction of the saint's blood occurs.
• Lake Avernus, in which Virgil, in the 6th book of his Aeneid, placed the entrance to Hell. The name derives from Greek, and means "Without Birds", referring to the absence of birds due to the sulfur gas that sprung from it. Nearby are the Temple of Apollo, the Grotto of the Cumaean Sibyl and Cocceius' Grotto, a gallery carved by the Romans to connect Lucrino to Cumae. The latter was damaged during World War II and is no longer visitable.
• Lake Lucrino, in the frazione of the same name. The lake was considered an infernal place, due to volcanic phenomena. It was a renowned resort in Roman times and included the villa of Cicero, which later held the remains of emperor Hadrian. Pliny the Elder cites it in Naturalis historia (ix, 25) as the home of a dolphin who had made friends with a child. According to Pliny, when the child fell ill and died, the dolphin died of broken heart also. The tale is considered the first known Urban legend.