The ancient marvels of Campi Flegrei

Lying in the shadow of Vesuvius, east of Naples, Pompeii is justly regarded as a wonder of the world – a Roman town frozen in time by the volcano’s eruption in AD79. But equally fascinating are the coastal towns west of the city, says Julia Buckley in The Times, at Campi Flegrei, or Phlegraean (“Burning”) Fields.

Although much of this area is densely populated, it is an active volcanic caldera, comprising 24 craters, as well as multiple steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pools. The ancient Greeks settled here in 730BC at Kyme, their first colony in western Europe. Later, the Roman navy was headquartered at Misenum. And thanks to the area’s thermal waters and “epic” coastline, it became a playground for the Roman upper class, who frequented a “city-sized” spa complex at Baiae.

Pompeii was a “bog-standard” town, but emperors built villas in Campi Flegrei, and it was also a place of “legend”. Aeneas “nipped down to Hades” via Lake Avernus, Hercules dammed up Lake Lucrinus, and Daedalus built a temple to Apollo at Cumae (the Greeks’ Kyme, now Cuma). Today, the area is “a gumbo of old and new”, with ancient remains scattered amid later development. Among marvels too numerous to list are the bathhouses at Baiae, which “spill down the cliffside like an ancient Positano”; the Piscina Mirabilis at Bacoli, which is “like a cathedral built by mermaids”; and “elegant” Pozzuoli – Sophia Loren’s home town – where young inmates of the local jail guide visitors around the Tempio-Duomo, a “jaw-dropping” Roman temple converted into a baroque church that houses three dazzling and “tender” paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi.

Small earthquakes known as scosse have been increasing in frequency in recent years. Experts say an eruption is not imminent, but each one is a reminder to “live for the moment” – a task that is made easier by the area’s excellent restaurants and vineyards. I particularly loved Scapricciatiello, in Pozzuoli, and Le Cantine dell’Averno, where the wine was “heavenly”.