CUMA
"Kyme" in Greek, "Cumae" in Latin, it is the most ancient colony of Magna Grecia and of the West; founded by Euboici in VIIIth century b.C., it has been a flourishing and powerful city (more than Pozzuoli) till the Neapolitan invasion (1207).
Archaeological Park of Cuma
The Acropolis is made up of igneous rocks and retaining walls (Vth cent. b.C.). On the lower terrace there is the so called "Temple of Apollo", on the upper terrace there is the "Temple of Jupiter" (later transformed into a Christian basilica).
At the entrance of the Acropolis there is the mythic "Sibyl's Cave", a monument hollowed out of the tuff bank, with a 131,50 m. long, 2,40 m. wide and 5 m. high gallery. According to Virgil's description (Aeneid, VI), it is in this place that the adobe of the Apollo's prophetic priestess must be located.
The big "Roman Crypt" (38-36 b.C.) connected the port to the forum.
Lake Fusaro
It is a crater of an extinct volcano, believed by the ancients to be a "hell region". In the middle of the lake rises the Royal Casina (an ancient hunting lodge) built by Carlo Vanvitelli (from whom we call it "Casina Vanvitelliana").