Percorso archeologico del Rione Terra

Fifteen metres beneath Pozzuoli's cathedral square, the archaeological route follows streets and buildings of Roman Puteoli: granaries, a mill with its lava stones, cryptoportici and shops. It culminates at the podium of the Capitolium, incorporated into the marble Temple of Augustus beneath the cathedral.

Why it matters

The route reveals the urban grid of the Roman colony founded in 194 BC beneath the tufa promontory of Rione Terra. Its excavated remains include the cardines and decumani, while finds from the excavation are presented in the small Museo dell'opera. An extension opened in 2021 reaches the cliff edge, where the underground streets meet a view across the gulf.

What to notice

Roman paving leads past grain-storage rooms and a bakery-mill complex whose millstones remain in place, then alongside cryptoportici and shopfronts. At the route's architectural centre is the tuff podium of the Capitolium, the colony's principal temple. The marble Temple of Augustus was later built around it, and the structure became part of the medieval and Baroque cathedral above.

The 2021 extension follows stretches of the cardo of Via San Procolo and the decumani of Via Villanova and Via Duomo. The line of the last street continues in the modern street above.

Context and history

The upper quarter was evacuated during the bradyseism emergency of 1970. Excavations begun in 1993 revealed Roman levels beneath the seventeenth-century buildings. The route expanded in stages, with the extension inaugurated on 27 July 2021 connecting the cathedral's north side to the cliff-edge decumanus. Its Museo dell'opera presents the excavation and recovery of the district.