NAPOLI SOTTERRANEA

This underground labyrinth in the heart of the historic centre is made up of galleries and ancient aqueducts located at a depth of 40 metres. The Greeks were the first to exploit the subsoil, extracting from the depths the blocks of tuff that were used to build Neapolis, the New City, as early as the^5th century BC. The Romans, then, with their usual pragmatic sense, reused these cavities when they traced the aqueducts supplying the city with drinking water. After the cholera epidemic of the 19th century, the use of the ancient aqueducts was forbidden for health reasons and the Neapolitan subsoil fell into disuse, turning into a huge underground public dump. During the Second World War, however, it saved the lives of thousands of Neapolitans who found refuge there to escape the bombs. The underground route traces the history of this subterranean Naples, which was not exempt from legends, such as that of the Munaciello, the well-digger who climbed up through the wells to enter the aristocratic palaces. Back on the surface, we continue with an immersion in the popular streets behind the church of San Paolo Maggiore, inside Neapolitan bassi, dwellings located on the ground floor with direct access to the street. Several of them have revealed the remains of the Roman theatre of Naples, which served as foundations for successive constructions. It is on its stage that the emperor Nero is said to have performed, paying the plebs to come and watch his show!