The Ancient Sunken City of Baia, Italy

By | September 28, 2018


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NOVEMBER 28: Old ruins of a building, Baia, Campania, Italy (Photo by De Agostini/Getty Images)

If these ruins from this once beautiful city could speak to us, what stories would they tell us about the inhabitants?

Baia, Italy was an ancient city of Rome that was on the shore of the Gulf of Naples. Now it is considered part of Bacoli in the region of Campania. From 100 BC to 500 AD, the extremely rich and elite were the ones who had built luxurious villas in this area and Baia was one of these resorts that stood for centuries. At one time, this resort was a place of self-indulgence and it was said to have been full of corruption. 

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Sculpture in the underwater Baia Park

If these underwater sculptures could speak, what secrets would they tell us? Would they tell us about the volcanic activity that had a hand in causing this part of the town to be submerged in the sea? Interestingly, underwater research was done by archaeologists which revealed that many of the finer buildings were protected in the park. The city itself was named after the helmsman of Odysseus’s ship in Homer’s Odyssey, who was said to have been buried close by. Even though the area was an active volcanic area, the city was still built on the Cumaean Peninsula in the Phlegraean Fields.