Keeping in the theme of I live in Italy, I need to see more of it, paired with curiosity of places I drive by every day- this weekend's destinations were all within 5 miles of my house. Yep. These places are in my backyard! Week #3 of "Ancient Civilizations" tour consisted of 2 spots, several adorable Napoli kitties, and lots and lots of Greek and Roman ruins. Today was all about Baia. Baia or Baiae, was the seaside get-a-way for the rich and famous in the end of the 1st century B.C. Roman nobility built villas to spend their otia (spare time) at the thermal baths, soaking up the views, and enjoying the
Castello di Baia
If you've headed out anywhere near my way (aka the Middle of Nowhere), chances are you've seen the huge rectangular building atop the cliff by the water on your way. This building? Well, before serving as my "almost home Katie" mark, the castle on the hill was a destination for lots of others- possibly summer home to Julius Caesar, but more likely Nero's home. (Agrippina, his mother IS buried nearby after all.) In the late 15th century, the Aragonese built over the older Roman parts more of what we see today. It's purpose? To serve as a warning for pirates to stay away! The size and the steep walls right against the coast line seemed to have done just their job.
Today, the castle holds lots and lots of artifacts found in this area- jewelry (don't touch those cases, they're equipped with alarms), various pieces of statues (there was an entire fingers & toes/feet case), urns, dishes, you know, all the regular stuff. Yep. I said it. "The regular stuff." It's hard to keep getting excited about all of it when you can't go anywhere in this town without seeing old stuff. It was pretty impressive though when I remembered it was in it's original location. But, truth be told I was more impressed with the view of the bay and the amazing water color. Hey, it's all about location, location, location when building a home- right? Alright, time to get into our chariots for a quick gallop down the road. Past the Temple of Diana and up the hill near the Temple of Venus. Why? We're hitting the spa!
Terme di Baia
Okay, so maybe it's not quite the spa. Part of what makes this area of the boot spectacular are all the volcanoes. Just don't think about the super volcano that I live above... All that heat under the surface causes plenty of warm mineral water that Roman engineers diverted into pools and create steam chambers.
These now ruins are in 5 sections which include temples, pools, theater, and villas. Nope. It's not a tiny place! And better yet? Like so many of our other sites, you just get to explore all over, climb on the stairs, go 'sloring down the dark halls under the amphitheater. Come to think of it? I'm getting rather spoiled. I can already see it now when I'm back in the states: Park Ranger: Excuse me ma'am. You can't climb in Lincoln's lap. In fact, haven't you been banned from all National Parks and monuments? Me: Mi dispiace, pero no parlo inglese. Okay, maybe I'm not that terrible but at times I almost feel guilty for walking on the ancient mosaic floor, but there are just so many things they have much better preserved they don't care. Talk about walking through history and discovering it for yourself. With these sites left in various states of excavation and ones like these practically void of other visitors, it's like I'm making these discoveries. Yep. I do need an Indiana Jones hat!
With most of this place crumbling apart, there were 2 hands down winners (besides the adorable orange tabby kitties): In one of the alcoves we "discovered" a fig tree growing upside down. The second thing? Well it took a little more patience in truly discovering it. Ready for some Lori & Katie Non-Running Adventure insights? When the two of us are out and about, especially in places like these it goes something like this:
OOOOOOh. Look at that ______. Lori being the professional photographer she is starts clicking shot after shot while I'm done after one, maybe two. While she carries on, I start looking around for paths, doorways, anywhere that calls me. These are my 'sploring times which almost always results in me calling out to Lori to hurry it up to see the new thing I "discovered."
On this particular day she was checking out the pomegranates the size of softballs while I was still being a science nerd with the tree. Once I headed her direction I found a doorway, so of course I went in. What I found? A pool of what looked like rain water with goldfish. We were amazed! Then we continued walking towards a temple but given that it was a few minutes before closing the path we needed was closed. Actually, it was a locked door. Paths we walk around. That's when we saw it. The most amazing dome shaped complex without a path leading up to it. Grrrrr. Well, when we did an about face (after I jumped out of the way of lizards) I went to go see a blocked off area, and that's when I found it- the entrance to the dome.
This dome? Turns out it's the Tempio di Mecurio which has an amazing pool, complete with more fish. In the 17th century people started to call it Temple of Echo because the acoustics are amazing. The sunlight streaming in through the windows and opening at the top cast amazing shadows and let that water sparkle. While doing my research afterwards, turns out that when this was built it was the largest dome in the world until the Pantheon was built in 128. Isn't that crazy?! I think so. It's about 71 feet in diameter just to give you an idea of how awe striking this place is.
In summary? Baia was the place to be in the height of the Roman Empire. When the writers referred to it as a place filled with vices and luxury? You better believe Emperor Hadrian, Julius Caesar, Nero, and others we learn about in history spent time here and it's no wonder- it's a beautiful area!
