1h 30minuti
English, Italiano
Unlimited
Underground Site
Pets allowed
Suitable for children
Supports in English or French
Parking available
Couples
Barrier-free
Piazza San Gaetano, heart of the centre of Naples in the district of San Lorenzo, in addition to hosting the Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Basilica of San Paolo Maggiore, allows you to travel for two thousand years back in time. With a time machine? No, crossing the threshold of the house number 68, which leads straight into the mysterious Naples Underground.
For millennia Piazza San Gaetano has been the centre of Naples par excellence: during the Greek era it hosted the Agora while in Roman times the space of the square was occupied by the Forum. In ancient times, the twelve city fratrie met in this square. A fratria was an alliance between families who had a common progenitor. Piazza San Gaetano was also the place where foreign ambassadors and Roman emperors were received in grand style.Other than hosting these ceremonials, in this square the Neapolitans were called to arms and gathered to defend the city from the attacks by Saracens and Lombards.
In addition to this, the square was also used for administrative affairs. During the Angevin era, in fact, as reported on the facade of the bell tower of the Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore, Piazza San Gaetano was the headquater where the Seats and the parliament met and where they carried out their administrative functions. The Seats of Naples were the city administrative institutions, whose representatives met to discuss and to reach the common good.
However, in addition to the history that can be seen in broad daylight, there are millennia of history to be discovered in the famous Naples Underground.
In the heart of the historic centre of Piazza San Gaetano, from the entrance located at number 68 you can access to the official route of the association Naples Underground. This is an excursion that will allow you to make a millennia-long old trip, from the Greek era to Modern times: here you can visit the remains of the aqueduct, the Greek-Roman theatre and even the air-raid shelters built underground during the Second World War. In addition to the excursion in the history of Naples, you can also visit the War Museum, the Arianna Seismic Station and the Orti Ipogei (Hypogeal Gardens in English).
This Naples has a history that is rich almost like the one of the square that covers it if not more. First of all, there are reports of artifacts found here that date back to about 5000 years ago. From the 3rd century BC, the Greeks began to dig the subsoil to obtain the blocks of tuff required to build the walls and temples of the ancient Neapolis, as well as to obtain a series of funeral hypogea.
During the Roman era and precisely during the Augustan era, the Romans provided the city with a very complex network of aqueducts, which was able to bring water to Naples from the Serino springs, a watercourse located about 70 km away.
The Roman aqueduct was able to satisfy the city’s water needs until the beginning of the 16th century. To overcome the structural limits of the historical aqueduct, the Neapolitan nobleman Cesare Carmignano built a new aqueduct.
The underground aqueducts were still used until the beginning of the 20th century, and then they were set aside. However, even though it no longer brought water to the city, the underground network of tunnels and cisterns was used to protect the inhabitants of the city. During the Second World War, in fact, the underground was adapted to serve as air-raid shelters, in order to escape the numerous bombings that hit the city. The air-raid shelters, with all the Greek and Roman remains, are still there in the Naples Underground, testifying to the millennial history of the city of Naples.
