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All Italy Naples Naples Underground

Naples Underground

A labyrinth of ancient tunnels hidden below the city holds the ruins of 2,500 years of history.

Naples, Italy

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A staircase excavated from the tuff leads to a depth of 120 feet (40 meters).   Armando Mancini/CC BY-SA 2.0
Napoli Sotterranea.   Andrea Tosatto/CC BY 2.0
Napoli Sotterranea.   giomodica/CC BY 3.0
Entrance to Napoli Sotterranea.   Baku/CC BY-SA 3.0
Reconstruction of a German armored vehicle stolen and hidden in the tunnels.   Lalupa/GFDL
Underground tunnel.   Armando Mancini .CC BY-SA 2.0
Remains of the theater.   Dominik Matus/CC BY-SA 4.0
Remains of the theater.   Dominik Matus/CC BY-SA 4.0
Napoli Sotterranea.   Dominik Matus/CC BY-SA 4.0
Underground cistern for fresh water. The aqueduct flows in here in several places.   Justin Ennis/CC BY 2.0
Hypogeum Gardens, with plants growing underground.   Dominik Matus/CC BY-SA 4.0
The ancient theater.   Lalupa/GFDL
Passageway carved through tuff under Naples, previously a water channel.   Avenue/CC BY-SA 3.0
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About

Underneath the ancient city of Naples lies a vast geothermal zone composed of tuff, a volcanic rock. Over the last two-and-a-half millennia, extensive caves and tunnels have been carved out of the tuff, forming a shadow city obscured below the ground. 

The 280-mile (450-kilometer) subterranean network was formed by the Greeks in the fourth century BC to build what was then named Neapolis, or "New City." The Romans later used the chambers and pathways to build aqueducts that provided water for many centuries of Neapolitans. As the centuries passed, buildings were constructed on top of previous ancient infrastructure, and the remains of these structures are were hidden deep below the city. 

Today, Napoli Sotterranea (Naples Underground) offers a chance to explore this Italian city from a different point of view. Down a long case descending some 120 feet (40 meters) below the earth, aqueducts, sewer tunnels, rainwater cisterns, caverns, catacombs, and pre-Christian hypogea can be found in the tuffaceous cavities, along with roadway and rail tunnels. Some caves that were part of the reservoir are still full of water today. One highlight of the subterranean network is the remains of the Greco-Roman theatre of Neapolis, where the Roman emperor Nero also had his private dressing room. 

Many years later, the underground network was used as an air raid shelter during the Second World War, and you can still see forgotten war relics such as weapons and vehicles in the tunnels. More recently, the first Hypogeum Gardens in the world can be found, an experiment to grow various species of plants far from pollution, but also light, in the dark chambers underneath the city.

Related Tags

Subterranean Subterranean Sites Tunnels Ancient Infrastructure Aqueducts Caves Hidden Underground Roman Ruins Ecosystems

Know Before You Go

Some tunnels are very narrow and it is necessary to use a candle to see, for this reason some passages of the route are optional.

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StepYoshi

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Meg

  • Meg

Published

January 22, 2018

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  • https://www.napolisotterranea.org/
  • https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sottosuolo_di_Napoli
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples_underground_geothermal_zone
Naples Underground
68 Piazza San Gaetano
Naples
Italy
40.851129, 14.256798
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