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dive into the fantasy of ancient roman palace towers

baia, italy

underwater archaeological park diving

author: xiao ning

↑ poet percy b. shelley source: my lit journey

‍

shelley, the great british romantic poet of the 18th century, wrote in the third paragraph of his masterpiece "ode to the west wind":

Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams

The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,

Lull'd by the coil of his crystalline streams,

Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay,

And saw in sleep old palaces and towers

Quivering within the wave's intenser day,

……

it's you who wake up the blue mediterranean,

and it once slept all summer,

being lulled into a dream by the whirlpool of clear water,

right therebayabeside the volcanic rock island in the bay

it dreamed of ancient palaces and pavilions

trembling in the shadow of the waves reflected by the water and the sky

……

shelley is indeed worthy of the "genius prophet" described by engels. hundreds of years later, in the ancient town of baia/baiae in southern italy, among the green hills, red tiles, and clear sand and white sand, people can actually see the beautiful scenery. in the sunshine, gently put down the cup of falangina wine with strong, sour and rich taste, and then jump into the fluid boundary of time and space, kissing the ancient roman palace thousands of years ago between the brilliant lights of water and sky. the long and beautiful shadow of the pavilion!

↑ the ancient town of baya today source: bbc

the underwater archeology park of baia in italy is probably one of the most attractive recreational diving destinations in all of europe. i am afraid that it will be difficult for any diver to refuse to explore the exquisite marble statues, mosaic floors and various architectural ruins left by the roman empire 2,000 years ago on the shore of the warm and comfortable ancient mediterranean town. what's more, these relics that were submerged in the water due to land subsidence are all preserved in shallow water areas. even through snorkeling, people can feast their eyes on it, experience the thousands of years of history hidden underwater, and lament what happened in these palaces and villas. scenes that changed the historical course of roman civilization.

↑ ancient roman statues underwater in baya bay source: le parche edizioni

the ancient town of baia is located in the bacoli municipality (napoli ("metropolitan" is an italian administrative division, equivalent to a provincial city) in the southwest of campania). the junction of bacoli (a "community" roughly equivalent to a county) and the municipality of pozzuoli. baia, the famous mount vesuvio (vesuvio) and the ancient roman city of pompei (pompei) are located on the east and west sides of the golfo di napoli. these two ancient cities were both vacation resorts for aristocrats and dignitaries in the ancient roman era. however, one was buried by volcanic ash and the other fell into the sea due to geological changes. each relied on different forces of nature to preserve the last traces of the ancient empire for us. glory.

↑ location of baia in the bay of naples source: google map

the present town of bakoli, together with the town of pozzuoli, is also known as the campi flegrei area, which means "burning field" in greek. because this area is actually part of a huge volcanic crater. this giant volcano once erupted 39,000 years ago, triggering a drop in global temperatures. this was one of the important reasons for the extinction of homo sapiens "neanderthal" living in europe at that time. due to frequent volcanic activity, this area not only has rich geothermal resources, but can also cultivate world-renowned wine on volcanic ash soil, but it also suffers from frequent geological changes.

↑ "campi flegrei" is the main wine-producing region of campania source: l'arcante

this land shrouded in geothermal heat was once one of the earliest areas on the apennine peninsula to be affected by hellenism. hellenistic settlements existed as early as 3,000 years ago in the 10th century bc. kumai, a once influential hellenistic colonial city-state in the mediterranean, was located here, and the port of kumai was called "portus baianus", which may be today's "baianus". "the origin of the name. in addition, medieval historical materials also record that today's town of baia itself may have originated from a temple named philopo dedicated to aphrodite, the ancient greek goddess of love and beauty, during the hellenistic period. the town of phipopolis.

↑ restoration map of the city-state cumai source: archeology illustrated

after rome was born in the 8th century bc, it began to expand continuously on the apennine peninsula. after many wars with the samnites who originally lived here, the romans took complete control of the bay of naples, including the campi flegrei area. from then on, it became the richest area under roman rule and the center of "roman-greek" culture.

in roman times, the bay of today's baia town was once a small lake close to the sea, separated from the sea by a natural embankment. although there are no clear records of the time and story of the specific origin of the town of baya, we know that the early town was built around this lake. at that time, people also opened a waterway on the embankment so that ships from the open sea could sail directly into the lake.

↑ topographic map of pozzuoli and baya in ancient roman times. the small lake connected to the sea in the lower left corner is the location of the town of baya. source: vesuvio live

↑ restoration map of the ancient roman town of baia. the town was built around a lake, and there was a man-made waterway connecting the lake to the sea. source: musas

many romans who like to attach themselves to history far-fetchedly connected the name "baia" to a subordinate named "bahs" (baios) of the protagonist odysseus in homer's epic "the odyssey". but i am afraid that for most romans, this name is more like the abbreviation of the latin "public bath" (balineae), which also well explains why the town of baia has become a leisure resort highly respected by the romans. fundamental reason: using natural geothermal resources here, you can conveniently carry out the romans' favorite leisure activities - bathing and spa therapy.

at the end of the roman republic around 100 bc, after the roman entrepreneur and engineer sergius orata invented a large bathing center building that used a fire pit-like structure to utilize heat energy, the romans began to become more and more obsessed with it. baths and spas. from then on, many roman dignitaries believed that baia, which was rich in geothermal resources, had surpassed resorts such as capri and pompeii, so they purchased land here to build villas and bathing facilities, including military commanders and the unprecedented 7-term consul gaius marius, the philosopher and writer marcus tullius cicero, etc. however, the most famous resident of baia in the early days was probably the terminator of the roman republic, the "♦️" on the playing cards.K", and the origin of the word "july" in today's western languages ​​- julius caesar (because he was born in july, this month was named after his surname).

↑ schematic cross-section of a roman public bathhouse. you can see a heating structure similar to a fire pit below. however, in baia, natural geothermal heat can be used and there is no need to build a stove. source: the worlds of david darling

according to records, caesar's villa in baia was located on a high point overlooking the bay. it is generally believed that this building was later converted into a strong coastal defense castle during the kingdom of naples, which is today's aragonese castle on the south side of the town of baia. (castello aragonese). the castle is currently used as the "archaeological museum of campi fregrei", where many artifacts excavated from the undersea archaeological park are on display.

↑ aragonese castle overlooking the bay, presumably built on the ruins of the original caesar's villa source: phlegraean fields archeological museum

however, from the perspective of location, caesar's villa is still very unique. because most people at that time liked to build their villas on the south side of lake baya, closer to the sea, so that these villas would have their own docks, which not only facilitated transportation, but also allowed them to grow eels, a delicacy loved by the romans, directly in front of the villas. .

as a large number of roman noble villas moved into baia, large public facilities began to be built. what is known locally today as the "temple of mercury" (temple of mercury) is actually the remains of a cold-water swimming pool attached to the giant public bathhouse. this building has a huge dome, which is the earliest known concrete dome and the largest dome building in the world until the pantheon in rome was built more than a hundred years later.

↑ the ruins of the so-called "temple of mercury" depicted in a 1768 engraving were actually only part of a roman public bath source: paolo antonio paoli

↑ today's "temple of mercury", the rising water level has flooded part of the wall. source: the travel

at the end of the republic, baia received the nickname "little rome" because it gathered almost all the aristocrats of rome. however, the luxurious atmosphere here actually made some roman aristocrats who advocated extravagance and extravagance feel that it was too extravagant. the prototype of the roman literary character "lesbia" (a name that obviously had a great influence on later generations), the then famous "queen of scandal" claudia (clodia) was once accused of lingering in the villa of baia , indulge in endless beach parties and long drinking sessions.

↑ source of images of claudia in different paintings: la voz de galicia

in the "post-triumvirate" period after caesar's assassination, the giants who fought against each other politically and occupied their respective sides militarily, whether it was pompey the great (gnaeus pompeius magnus), mark antonius (marcus antonius) or that augustus/octavian, the origin of the word "august", could not help but own a luxurious large-scale villa complex in the small town of baia, which became an interesting commonality among them as romans.

during the civil war, as sextus pompeius's fleet gained control of the mediterranean sea and seriously threatened the roman city's maritime food supply line, octavian had to start building his own navy and build a fleet in palestine. a fleet was secretly built in the hidden lake avernus on the east side of asia. the fleet assembled in the lake could enter the huge outer harbor surrounded by breakwaters through an artificial canal. this complex naval base system was named after caesar and was called "portus julius" (portus julius).

↑ restored view of pozzuoli bay. in the upper right corner you can see the outer harbor of port julian and the lake behind it. to the left of port julian and in the distance in the center of the picture is the town of baya built around the lake. source: jean-claude golvin

the fleet that octavian secretly formed in port julian indeed achieved a decisive victory in the battle of naulochus. the victorious fleet no longer needed to be kept secret, so it quickly moved its base to cape miseno in the south of baia, and became the "misenum", one of the two most important permanent imperial fleets in the roman empire. fleet” (classis misenensis). after that, part of port julian became a civilian port, and much of the land originally occupied soon became villas and bathing facilities for the nobles to relax.

in addition to the port, during the reign of octavian, the most complex and expensive water transmission system in the roman world, the "aqua augusta", was built here. most of this aqueduct is dug underground, bringing mountain springs from serino to eight cities including naples and pompeii, and finally reaches the huge freshwater pool at the misenum naval base, with a total length of 145 meters. kilometer. an important relay station and supplementary water source for this huge canal is located in baya.

↑ the massive, deep underground aqueduct of augustus was mistakenly believed to be the passage to the underworld described in homer’s epic poem in the middle ages. source: wikipedia-ra boe

rome entered the imperial era, and baia developed rapidly during the "domus julio-claudian dynasty". as many emperors frequently went to live in baia, a large number of important roman officials and senators gathered here, making it a place that affected the political nerves of the empire.

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at the end of the reign of the first emperor octavian, he adopted tiberius, the son of the queen and her ex-husband, as his adopted son to inherit the throne. although tiberius was very successful in his rule, he killed all the royal family. in his later years, the emperor lived for a long time in capri, an island opposite baia across the bay of naples, and never returned to rome. because there were not many relatives left, on his deathbed, he appointed caligula, who seemed to be obedient, as his joint successor.

↑ emperor caligula riding through the town of baia source: "look and learn" issue 796, april 16, 1977

compared to the leisurely life of capri, the young and energetic third emperor caligula obviously preferred baya. one of the emperor's most famous eccentricities was to commandeer a large number of ships to build a castle on the bay of pozzuoli. long bridge, and then set out from baia in a golden cloak and rode across the gulf of pozzuoli. although until more than a thousand years later, local people still made a living by selling the remaining wood chips of the "caligula bridge" as souvenirs, people still don't know the emperor's purpose of doing this. some people speculate that he was doing it to show his power, while others said it was just a purposeless pastime. however, the most popular theory is that he was responding to a previous prophecy by a priest - "caligula's succession to the throne is like riding a horse." just as impossible as crossing the gulf of pozzuoli”.

↑ the oil painting "caligula's palace and bridge" by the famous romantic master turner source: joseph mallord turner

caligula, who behaved strangely and cruelly, was assassinated after three years in power. after two rounds of massacres of relatives by the second and third emperors, octavian had very few descendants left, so caligula’s uncle , claudius, a disabled political amateur who was passionate about academic research, was promoted to the throne of the 4th emperor as one of the only surviving male royals. claudius was considered the most competent roman emperor since the founding emperor, and he worked hard to restore the empire's strength. this rare good emperor also loved baia, where he had a luxurious villa built along the sea wall, where he often discussed politics and philosophy with the greek slaves he gave freedom and entrusted with important tasks.

↑ restoration of scenes of life at villa baya source: samuel p. cockerell

however, the easy-going claudius was swayed by the little queen he finally married. according to the little queen's request, he adopted her and her ex-husband's son nero as an adopted son and designated an heir. then he enjoyed the little queen. he died mysteriously after preparing a plate of mushrooms. nero succeeded to the throne and became the fifth emperor of rome. he became one of the most famous emperors in rome - the roman version of "king zhou" who has been famous in europe for two thousand years for his cruelty.

as a representative figure of tyrants, whether he burned rome or massacred christians, etc., there is no need to say more about nero’s story here. however, nero did bring many changes to baya during his reign. the so-called "sosandra" complex here today is said to be a large leisure facility built by nero for the officers, soldiers and sailors of the misenum fleet stationed nearby.

↑ restoration map of baya town. the harbor in the distance in the upper left corner is the outer harbor of port julian. source: archeology illustrated

during nero's reign, he often visited the large villa of the powerful calpurnia family in baia, where he displayed his musical talents. in 45 ad, the owner of the villa, carmania piso, secretly united with a number of nobles and high-ranking officials who were dissatisfied with nero's brutal rule to attempt to launch a coup here, which was known in history as the "pisonian conspiracy". although the coup failed and this splendid villa was confiscated and became imperial property, this incident that shocked the entire empire completely exposed the rift in the relationship between nero and the aristocratic ruling class, which directly led to the civil war three years later and nero's forced suicide, the "julian-claudian" dynasty that lasted for five generations came to an end.

↑ the peso conspiracy source: weapons and warfare

although a generation of tyrants has passed away, the villa baia confiscated from piso has been passed down from generation to generation of emperors. in this way, after the civil war of the "year of the four emperors" and the short-lived three emperors of the flavia dynasty, it was finally passed down to the nerva-antonine dynasty, the heyday of rome. the famous third emperor hadrian (hadrian) among the "five good emperors" of the antoninus dynasty is famous for his erudition, reforming the roman bureaucracy and law, and building hadrian's wall (vallum aelium) in britain. .

hadrian, the "good emperor", had a special liking for baya and this villa. he ordered a large-scale renovation and expansion of the villa, using more advanced construction technology and craftsmanship to make the already extremely luxurious villa even grander. the design of the villa also adopted brand-new planning solutions, and many of the design features revealed have become reference samples for the baroque architectural style nearly a thousand years later. hadrian lived in this villa at baia for a long time during his reign until his death.

↑ print depicting the summer palace villa in the town of baia. source: de luan

in addition to this villa, there is also a huge ancient roman public bath on the south side of the town of baia, which is mistakenly called the "temple of venus" today because it is similar to hadrian's villa. its design and craftsmanship are considered to be probably funded by hadrian. the remaining part of this bathhouse should be the atrium of the building complex. it is speculated that the dome is composed of 16 arc surfaces. such a complex design has never appeared in previous roman architecture. medieval people mistakenly thought it had been a temple because of a statue of venus in the building.

↑ "temple of venus" at baia in medieval painting source: franz kaisermann

↑ today’s so-called “temple of venus” source: 123rf

after the antoninus dynasty, after the "years of the five emperors", the military emperor septimius severus established the severus dynasty (domus severiana). alexander severus, the grandson of severus and the 6th emperor of the dynasty, was also a deep lover of baya. the emperor not only lived here for a long time, but also added what may have been the last large public facility to baia, what we today call the "temple of diana". the building was originally used to collect geothermal steam for public baths. the interior is decorated with hunting-themed marble components, and the building is dedicated to the emperor's mother, julia mamaea (julia mamaea).

↑ an 18th-century oil painting depicting a scene in baia. the half-collapsed so-called "temple of diana" can be seen in the lower left corner of the picture. source: carlo bonavia

↑ today’s so-called “temple of diana” source: dudaieva

after the fall of the antoninus dynasty, baya also suffered two serious land subsidences at the end of the 3rd century and the 4th century, causing serious water seepage in some coastal buildings. the town gradually lost people's favor. after the last emperor of the western roman empire, romulus augustulus, was deposed and eventually died in castel dell'ovo in naples, the once glorious town of baia lost its luster. but even so, many "barbarian" kings who accepted roman culture still had a soft spot for baya and lived here. for example, the ostrogothic king athalaric was one of them.

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until around the 8th to 10th century, half of the town of baya had completely sunk into the water, and the original lake was connected to the sea to form a bay. only part of the northern mountain top was still above the water. in the 16th century, a violent geological change suddenly occurred on the east side of the town, forming a brand new volcano called "monte nuovo". the hill swallowed up a sizeable portion of the original port julius, completely changing the surrounding terrain.

↑ comparison of this night in the baya area. the purple part is the land that has sunk underwater, and the orange part is the newly formed volcano. source: roman aqueducts

↑ baya town and surrounding areas today source: google map

by the 18th and 19th centuries, baya town had completely declined, and few outsiders came here except local farmers. however, the desolate town was favored by some romantic artists and writers because of its large number of roman architectural ruins. during this period, baya often appeared in some poems and paintings, and was often used by artists from a romantic perspective to recall the past glory of the roman empire.

↑ turner's oil painting "bay of baiae" depicts the bay of baiae in the 19th century. at that time, this almost deserted town once became a holy place for romantic poets and painters because of its large number of roman architectural remains. source: william turner

↑ an 1882 landscape painting of baya. source: the holburne museum

time has come to 1956. raimondo bucher, an italian air force captain pilot who was born in the austro-hungarian empire, was also a pioneer of free diving and underwater photography, and the inventor of the underwater camera "o-ring" the architectural remains of port julius, octavian's naval base, were discovered and explored in the waters east of baia. from the photos taken by butcher, you can clearly see the layout of the port buildings and street planning, which brought baya's underwater cultural relics into people's sight.

↑ captain butcher, holding his homemade rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera in a diving case source: wikipedia - public domain

in 1969, two marble statues were discovered underwater near the pier of the modern town of baia. when the statues were excavated in the early 1980s, the remains of the entire hall and more were discovered under the surrounding sand. the statues include images of the family of claudius, the 4th emperor of the roman empire. by comparing the life experiences of these statue figures with historical records, it was confirmed that this was part of claudius' villa in baia. the statues are currently being restored and on display in the museum of the aragonese castle, but their copies have been returned to their original locations.

↑ two statues under the water in baia bay today. source: parco sommerso di baia

after cleaning up the nearby waters, people discovered the remains of several large villas and blocks, and confirmed that one of the huge buildings was the villa piso that was confiscated by the fifth emperor nero. it was also the " the place where emperor hadrian died. to this day, archaeological excavations here are proceeding slowly but continuously, and new architectural remains appear in front of the world every few years.

↑ mosaic floor of a roman villa preserved underwater source: hypebeast

in order to better protect baia's precious underwater monuments, in august 2002, the italian ministry of environment (now the ministry of ecological transformation), the ministry of cultural heritage and activities (now the ministry of culture), the ministry of infrastructure and agricultural policy jointly worked with campani the baya underwater archaeological park was established as a marine protected area by ministerial order. the italian government has carried out a large number of archaeological projects here by mobilizing private talents and resources. at the same time, it has also kept the place open to diving tourists, successfully cultivating considerable commercial value and revitalizing this declining town. sensing huge visibility.

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the "baya underwater archaeological park" protected area is divided into three areas: "a", "b", and "c". the "a" area on the west side is the urban area that includes the above-mentioned villas, and is also the most popular area for visitors; " area b includes the excavated remains around the entrance to the outer harbor of port julian; area "c" is the large area between the two that is currently less explored. although it is speculated that there may be a large number of underwater ruins outside these three areas, with the existing manpower and resources, this is the limit that the italian government can invest.

↑ regional map of the baya underwater archaeological park source: musas

today, in the diving activities organized by baya, more than ten commonly used diving spots have been developed. most of them are at a depth of several meters and can be used for scuba diving or snorkeling. these diving sites cover the main monuments in areas a, b, and c within the marine reserve, as well as several ruins outside the reserve. i will introduce you to the current status and stories of these dive sites in detail through several articles later. i hope you will like it.

↑ diving to explore baia’s underwater roman ruins source: archaeology magazine