Beneath Naples Redux
(After
"The Big Money Pit" in
November, 2006, here is a new item from Larry Ray, former
and longtime resident of Naples. He has his own website here and
is the English-language translator for Napoli UnderGround.
)
Beneath the Oldest Basilica in Naples
© by Larry Ray
Napoliunderground.org's
webmaster, Fulvio Salvi, along with fellow urban
speleologist friends, as well as his daughter, Selene,
completed a fascinating visit beneath the city's historic
center at the end of 2006. They took advantage of an
opportunity to explore an incredible labyrinth of
switchback steps, ladders and passageways leading to a
huge quarried cavity beneath the Santa
Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta basilica. [Photo,
left. Located at number 38 on this
map.]
The church itself is
fascinating. It was built in the first half of the sixth
century on the site of an ancient Roman building. Opposite
the entrance hall on the ancient via dei Tribunali, is an imposing
medieval bell tower from the eleventh century built with
ancient Roman materials and column. It is among the oldest
examples of the Roman architectural style in the city. It
is the first basilica in Naples dedicated to the Virgin
Mary, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1652.
A stairway beneath a
back altar originally provided access to a series of paleochristian burial crypts or
hypogea beneath the church. A severe earthquake in the
Mount Vesuvius and Naples area in 1980 caused widespread
structural damage. The foundation of the ancient basilica
was reinforced with a massive engineering undertaking.
Reinforced ferroconcrete walls and support piling were
constructed beneath the basilica's foundation. A
switchback stair ramp was installed to provide access to
the new construction.
Fulvio
Salvi and his speleologist friends were able to inspect
not only this engineering marvel, but also to discover an
additional access to a large square shaft leading down
into a bottle-shaped cavern beneath the church created by
the quarrying of large blocks of sturdy yellow tuff
sandstone. It is this quarry that provided material most
probably used to build the basilica. The shaft, called the
"eye of the mountain" is typical of hundreds upon hundreds
of other gigantic cavities found in all areas beneath
Naples.
Fulvio and his team used a
flexible ladder to reach the bottom of the huge quarry
cavity, and then made an interesting discovery. They noted
fields of stalactites about 1 to 2 centimeters in length
indicating long term seepage and water infiltration. Then
to the right of the chamber they felt a strong, constant
cool wind blowing from two small openings, indicating
connection to other cavities and probably the old Greek
aqueduct. Further inspection showed a small 'window' which
would allow access to a tunnel about 10 meters down. This
would most certainly be a diversion tunnel dug to tap the
ancient aqueduct, providing a controlled flow of water
into a lime coated reservoir. This was a common method of
using the quarried cavities as water wells to supply
buildings above. Since the outing was a casual inspection,
no ropes or climbing gear was taken along, but Fulvio and
his fellow explorers plan a return trip soon to do a more
complete survey.
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