Baia, The Sunken Roman City

November 30, 2019

Baia, The Sunken Roman City

"Baia, Italy was an ancient city of Rome that was on the shore of the Gulf of Naples. Now it is considered part of Bacoli in the region of Campania. From 100 BC to 500 AD, the extremely rich and elite were the ones who had built luxurious villas in this area and Baia was one of these resorts that stood for centuries.

The city itself was named after the helmsman of Odysseus’s ship in Homer’s Odyssey, who was said to have been buried close by. Even though the area was an active volcanic area, the city was still built on the Cumaean Peninsula in the Phlegraean Fields.

Historical figures like Julius Caesar had a villa in this city and a lot of the town became the property of Augustus. Nero also had a villa built here in the middle of the 1st century with Hadrian, a Roman Emperor, dying here in 138 AD. There was also another emperor whose name was Septimius Severus, who loved the place, as it was his favorite place to be. Items were left on display here that once belonged to Pompey’s daughter, Pompeia Magna. She had given them to Tiberius – items such as a brooch, a cloak and gold bulla around the time of 120 AD.

The ground was lowered below sea level in two phases. The first phase was between the 3rd and 5th centuries and then submerged more substantially a century later. By the 8th century, the lower part of the city was largely submerged by the sea.

There were a few temples in the city and these structures were dome-like in nature, which included the Temple of Mercury, the Temple of Diana and the Temple of Venus. The Temple of Diana was used for thermal baths as it was collecting vapors from the ground below which is now half-collapsed.

Having been a prominent resort city for so long, catering to the powerful Roman elite, the city was also famous for having healing hot springs that were medicinal. Because these springs were all around the city, it was easy to build spas over them. As beautiful as this underground city was, it did not last as the Saracens sacked it in the 8th century and by 1500, the only remains were abandoned. Once the place was abandoned, the water level rose because of volcanic action and drowned most of the ancient ruins."