DAYS 2&3 - CAMPANIA

Day 2 - Back towards the coast, a day of ruins

Anfiteatro Campano proclaims itself the second-largest in the Roman world.

 

Although it's seen better days (its audience these days comprises only gulls and lizards),

still impressive are the subterranean brickwork galleries which used to house the gladiators; in fact, it's believed that it was from here that Spartacus led his slave rebellion.

In the centre of Pozzuoli - the Tempio di Serapide, a (misnamed - not a temple at all) town market-place

unearthed in 1750 and named after the Egyptian god, Serapis, whose statue was buried in the rubble - an ideal spot for ice cream/sorbet break

And a lovely little b&b overlooking Lago d'Averno (where Aeneas is supposed to have descended into the Underworld)

Day 3 - Museums and marble along the coast to Naples

Our last day with the hire-car and we visited Pozzuoli's 1537 castle (yesterday's ticket for Anfiteatro Flavio, third largest in Roman empire,   turned out, to cover entry to other sites the next day)

which was jam-packed with artefacts, including some dashing heads

a 4th century BC tomb, plus relics, urns, carvings and the like, and views over the bay which the castle protected.

And satnav proved invaluable in getting us to our b&b in deepest Naples, just around the corner from Materdei underground station (which even has a lift.  Hallelujah, we'll be glad of that when we've walked our socks off tomorrow in the nearby Archaeological Museum)