User:Shooting4truth/Grotta della Dragonara

Bacoli (NA). View on Lago Miseno, a lake (left), the land strip (centre) with the beach of Miliscola (from the Latin militum schola) and Capo Miseno, on the promontory at the end of the peninsula (rear end, right), where one can admire this amazing spectacle from via Panoramica, on top of Monte di Procida.

In the present-day Italian town of Bacoli (or, Bauli, its Ancient Roman name) where the Aqua Augusta aqueduct ended its 96 km long course all the way from its source up in Serino (caput aquae, alt. 376 m above sea level) down to the Piscina Mirabile (terminus, alt. 8 m above sea level) — which ranks as one of the largest ancient reservoirs for (drinkable) water built by the Ancient Romans — , there is another imposing Ancient Roman cistern, the Grotta della Dragonara (Italian for "Dragonara Cave") aka Crypta Traconaria (Latin for "Traconara crypt"), located at the foot of the promontory of the Cape Miseno peninsula, the most advanced part into the sea of terra firma at the western end of the Gulf of Naples, Southern Italy, now hosting a lighthouse (faro).

Both were situated in close vicinity to the ancient port of Misenum (now Miseno), home to the Roman western imperial naval fleet with its battle ships belonging to the Classis Misenensis, once moored in this natural sea port formed by a crater of a collapsed volcano.

History

Ichnography (floor plan) of the Dragonara Cave, a Roman Cistern located in Bacoli (IT), near the ancient Roman port of Misenum. T. Rajola A. & F. in. (Tab. LXVI), Paolo, 1768

The Dragonara Cave, a Roman cistern, with water that flows from the subsoil due to the presence of a thermal spring, is believed to have possibly served a vast residential complex, a villa maritima (seaside villa), located a little further south and visible on the ridge of the promontory. The villa, arranged in terraces with rooms that sloped down to the sea, is attributed by literary tradition to have once belonged to Licinius Lucullus (where, according to the historian Tacitus, the Emperor Tiberius died under suspect circumstances), from which the annexed fish ponds (the so-called Peschiere di Lucullo) sloped down into the sea.

Hydraulic structure of the Dragonara Cave

Located at the eastern end of the beach of Miseno and dug into the tuff wall of the promontory, is the so-called "Grotta della Dragonara" whose etymology is said to derive from the Latin term for "rocky."

The visit is carried out on an iron walkway, since due to bradyseism the monument is currently semi-submerged.

It is a Roman cistern with a quadrangular plan (see Ichnography on the right) divided into five naves by four rows of 3 pillars carved into the tuff, lined with opus reticulatum — the characteristic Roman building technique of the Augustan era — , and covered with the typical hydraulic plaster that waterproofed this type of structures. It forms galleries reminiscent of streets in a modern city's square grid plan.

The cistern's galleries, totalling about 60 m in length and 6 m wide, are covered by a barrel vault with three large openings equipped with stairs, now only partially visible, used for water intake and routine maintenance. It contains lateral galleries that branch off and intertwine with each other, forming a labyrinth that is very suggestive to the visitor, enhanced by the effect of the water invading the monument.

Traditionally connected to the water supply of the Misenum fleet, already abundantly supplied with water from the cistern known as Piscina Mirabilis, it may however also have served the residential structures located a little further south and visible on the ridge, attributed by literary tradition to Lucullus. The villa, arranged in terraces with rooms that slope down to the sea, now silted up, once belonged to Caius Marius, for a short time to Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, and then acquired by Licinius Lucullus, a wealthy political figure of the first century BC, and finally passed to the imperial estate. It is the residence where, according to the historian Tacitus, the Emperor Tiberius died under suspect circumstances in the presence of his grand-nephew and adopted grandson, Germanicus' son Caligula, his successor.

In the Middle Ages the monument was known as "Bagno del Finocchio" ("Fennel Bath") for the abundant crops that surrounded it.

Depicted in 18th-century engravings and thus a required stop on cultural journeys of the ruins dating from Antiquity (the so-called "Grand Tours"), where it still appears to be developed all the way up to the sandy shore, excavation investigations have involved the Grotta and surrounding areas in more recent years, uncovering the remains of a nymphaeum and cisterns.

In addition to the Piscina Mirabilis, there is another imposing Roman cistern in Bacoli : the so-called Grotta della Dragonara. Completely excavated inside the tuff rock of the mountain of Miseno, with water flowing from a thermal spring, the structure can now be visited thanks to an iron walkway and a custodian who takes care of it on a daily basis. Used as a refuge, deposit and landfill in the twentieth century, in the past it must have served the maritime villa that belonged to Lucullus (in which, according to Tacitus, the Emperor Tiberius died), from which the adjoining fish ponds slope down into the sea.

Roman thermal spring water cistern

At Capo Miseno, in the municipality of Bacoli, at the far eastern end of the beach, hewn out of the tuffaceous slopes of the promontory, lies the Grotta della Dragonara, an archaeological site whose etymology is said to derive from the Latin term draconaria, i.e. "rocky cave".

It is a Roman cistern, with water welling up from the underground due to the presence of a thermal spring. Although having a similar function to that of the Piscina Mirabile, which collected water from the Serino aqueduct to supply the imperial Roman fleet at the port of Misenum, it is precisely the presence of a freshwater source on the west side that suggests that the Grotta della Dragonara must actually have served a vast residential complex located there. In fact, the cistern had to be pertinent to the premises attributable to a maritime villa that once belonged to Licinius Lucullus.

A sequence of spaces was partly excavated from the tuff and partly built into the sea. A rectangular vestibule, characterised by a series of brick arches (with machicolations and water pipes in the vault), connected the cave with the residential areas of the villa and with the actual maritime quarter composed of a set of other cisterns, nymphaeums and fish ponds (precisely, the so-called Peschiere di Lucullo ) sloping down to the sea, some of them silted up, which can be visited through scuba diving. A villa laid out in terraces, it first belonged to Caius Marius, then to Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, eventually purchased by Lucullus, a rich political figure of the first century BC and finally passed to the imperial state. It is the same residence where, according to Tacitus, the Emperor Tiberius died.

Planimetry and internal structure of the Dragonara cave

The Dragonara Cave, excavated into the Miseno mountain, has a quadrangular plan divided into five naves by four rows of 12 pillars also hewn out of the tuff, irregularly shaped and lined with opus reticulatum, forming a sort of labyrinth between galleries that branch off and intersect, with a hydraulic plaster finish in opus signinum ('cocciopesto' in modern Italian) — a water- and damp-proof mix of terracotta fragments and lime — covering the walls.

The cistern is a total of 60 metres long and 6 metres wide. It is covered by a barrel vault with three large openings with staircases, now partially visible, from which access was gained in the past (but later walled up by the owners of the houses above), which were used for water intake and maintenance works. The back wall of the space is in brick, dating from the 1st century AD.

The discoveries during excavations by the Archaeological Superintendence

Thanks to recent excavations conducted by the Archaeological Superintendence (in Italian: Soprintendenza Archeologica), three side-by-side aediculae were found on either side of the entrance tunnel, partially buried, framed by small columns, of which the central one is surmounted by a pediment and the side ones by lunettes.

The investigations also revealed, in the gallery to the left of the entrance, the canal of the cuniculus (water intake tunnel), which is contrasted in the floor with a group of 42 tiles with fins (measuring 43x35 cm bearing a Satvrnin logo), arranged in seven rows, placed with the intention of preventing the deterioration of the cocciopesto surface layer due to the continuous dripping of water.

In addition, a basin has been brought to light, also covered in cocciopesto, accessible by steps and characterised by an inclined plane sloping towards an opening communicating with a cistern below. In addition, poorly preserved remains of a nymphaeum and other smaller cisterns have been found.

From a stop-over on the Grand Tour to the custody of Salvatore Greco

The Dragonara Cave, at Cape Miseno, was one of the archaeological sites visited during a Grand Tour in the 19th century. In the past, it was also nicknamed 'Bagno di Finocchio' (Fennel Bath), because of the plant that still grows in the wild nearby.

During the two world wars of the 20th C., it was used by the local population as a refuge from Nazi occupation. Today it is semi-submerged due to bradyseism, so much so that the Soprintendenza Archeologica has installed an iron walkway to allow visits.

The custodian, Salvatore Greco, in exchange for an annual compensation of just over 400 euros, provides for the opening and routine maintenance of the site that until 1980 was truly a landfill, with rubbish of all kinds, waste material and polluted cistern water, all effects of the unbridled urbanisation of the small hamlet of Miseno. The remains and traces of the other parts of the maritime villa that belonged to Lucullus are scattered in many private properties, as evidenced by the so-called "Terme di Cudemo" (Baths of Cudemo).

Bibliography

1. Paolo Caputo, Maria Rosaria Pugliese. "La via delle terme. Proposte di itinerari nell'area flegrea dall'antichità ad oggi" (The road of the thermal baths. Proposed itineraries in the Phlegraean area from antiquity to the present day). Published by Tullio Pironti, 1997. ISBN 978-88-7937-020-2
2. Gianni Race. "Bacoli, Baia, Cuma, Miseno". Bacoli: Ed. Il Punto di Partenza, 1st ed.,1981.
3. Gianni Race. "Bacoli, Baia, Cuma, Miseno: Storia e Mito". (Stories and myths). Bacoli: Ed. Il Punto di Partenza, 2nd ed., 1989. ISBN 978-88-88732-18-3
4. Antonio D'Ambrosio, Mariarosaria Borriello. "Baiae-Misenum". Forma Italiae, Regio I, Vol. XIV, Unione Accademica Nazionale. Instituto di Topografia Antica dell'Università di Roma. Firenze: Ed. Leo S. Olschki, 1979. ISBN 978-88-222-2810-9
5. Photo by Nicola d'Orso, 2017.
6. Author Mauro Cucco, 2022.

Further reading

• Paoli, Paolo Antonio. (1768). Antiquitatum Puteolis Cumis Baiis Existentium Reliquiae. Avanzi delle antichità esistenti a Pozzuoli, Cuma e Baja. Napoli: [s.n.], Anno A.C.N.MDCCLXVIII ^{(with full book scan available at German Archaeological Institute (iDAI) )}, a.o. texts and engravings related to Expl. Fol. 35 & Tab. LXVI, pp 101-102 original book (or, pp. 210-212 of 225 in scanned book).
• De Feo, Giovanni & De Gisi, Sabino & Malvano, Carmela & De Biase, O. (2010). The Greatest Water Reservoirs in the Ancient Roman World and the “Piscina Mirabilis” in Misenum. Water Science & Technology: Water Supply. vol. 10, issue 3, pp 350–358. Publication by IWA Publishing, 2010.

See also

• List of Roman cisterns

External links

• Official Tourism Portal - Comune di Bacoli (Italian)
• Official site Piscina Mirabilis - Bacoli
• Archaeological Park of the Phlegraean Fields - Parco Archeologico Campi Flegrei (Italian)

Access

The ancient cistern is located on Via Dragonara, 48, 80070 Bacoli (NA), Campania, Italy. It is accessible to people with motor disabilities.

The visit is carried out on an iron walkway, since the monument is currently semi-submerged due to bradyseism.

Admission is free, but only upon request, after required reservation (via pa-fleg.comunicazione@cultura.gov.it)

Mirabilis Category:Buildings and structures in Campania Mirabilis Category:Tourist attractions in Campania Category:Archaeological sites in Campania Category:Bacoli Category:Phlegraean Fields