You’ve been to Naples. You went to Pompeii. Yet you missed the adventure. Pompeii gets all the attention. But less than 30 kilometres from Naples, in the other direction, there is another Roman city just as extraordinary — that almost nobody knows exists and even fewer have seen. Because it’s underwater.Baia didn’t die in a flash of fire like Pompeii. It sank. One breath at a time, over centuries, until the most decadent resort of the Roman Empire became a silent kingdom of fish and seaweed.The science behind it is called bradyseism — from the Greek for slow movement. The Phlegraean Fields — the vast active volcanic caldera stretching west…
-
-
The sea, the dragon and cloud nine
There is a road along the Campania coast that I have driven perhaps ten times. Like all great beauties, it has no mercy — plunging cliffs, hairpin turns, oncoming buses on roads built for donkeys, views so extravagant they feel like provocation. Yes, it’s the infamous Amalfi Coast. I love it completely. I do it off-season, of course. I even enjoy tight slope parking when I stop for aperitivo in Praiano. But you, you should take the bus, really. The SITA drivers (local bus company) are fearless and the timing is surprisingly good. But here is the catch: the coast is not (entirely) the point. The coast is the way…
