Solfatara of Pozzuoli

Neapel · Italia · Natural site

The Romans called the crater Forum Vulcani. The Middle Ages said the Titans lay chained below — the fumaroles are their breath.

The crater at the centre of the Campi Flegrei is still steaming. The ground is white with sulphur, mud pools boil, and out of the great fumarole called Bocca Grande vapour pours at some hundred and sixty degrees with a sound carried far beyond the rim. Strabo described the place as the workshop of the god Vulcan and one of the entrances to the underworld, Forum Vulcani, and antiquity set the gigantomachy, the war of gods against giants, right here. The Middle Ages reworked the story: the Titans lie imprisoned beneath the crater floor where Zeus locked them, and what hisses up through the cracks is their breathing. A short way off, Bishop Gennaro is said to have been beheaded, and in the sanctuary by the crater the stone beneath his blood is said to redden on his feast day. The crater is closed to visitors.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Solfatara of Pozzuoli?

Solfatara of Pozzuoli ligger i Neapel, Italia.