What are you doing between Campi Flegrei? Who are you? Why are you driving around with this boat-like container on four wheels on the road? oh is it a camper you say? A house you can take with you wherever you go? It's mind-blowing. Lucky you that you have a home. I haven't seen her again for a few years...

Let's leave it at that: what do you think if in exchange for a ride I guide you on your journey? I know the Campania coast well. Courage, the city of Cuma is not far from here. Let's hurry and don't pay attention to the screams of that woman you're hearing from afar, behind me. She's been harassing me for days, but I don't want to have anything to do with her anymore.

Cuma: the origin of the Western Greeks

Come here and enjoy this magnificent land of the Campi Flegrei, shaped by eruptions and earthquakes, rich in lakes and hills. Among the thick vegetation of vines and chestnut trees, here you can trace the memories of a prestigious past. Here it rises Friday which contains the story of the origins because it is here that we Greeks founded the first settlement on the mainland and introduced the first alphabet to the Italian peninsula. The first settlers settled on this coast, they also gave birth to Parthenope -what you call Naples- and allowed the fugitives from the distant island of Samos to settle here in the nearby Pozzuoli, founding Dicearchìa, the ꞌGovernment of the righteousꞌ.

On the paved road that inserts us among the ancient streets of Cuma, you will immediately notice a trapezoidal tunnel, over one hundred meters long, cut into the tuff. It is the Sibyl's cave, the ancient sanctuary where Aeneas also passed, famous warrior and founder of Rome. It is an evocative place, but be careful, you could get lost among the secondary corridors and never come out again.

The acropolis and the temple of Apollo

If you follow along with me Via Sacra up to the top of the hill, you will be able to see the beauty of the acropolis, the sacred part of the city. The temple of Apollo in fact, it testifies to the arrival of the first Chalcidian navigators who, following the divine sign of the white dove, landed here and erected the time in honor of the sun god. In addition to that of Apollo there are a series of other sacred buildings which overall formed a large sanctuary with a main temple, a circular building (tholos), Of a naiskos and a number of related structures, including the so-called ꞌGreek cisternꞌ and some small basins, perhaps functional to the use of water in the sanctuary.

You can dominate from the terraces of the Acropolis the pine forest of Lìcola, doesn't it also convey to you a sense of silence, peace and immensity? The only perceptible sound is that of the waves which, with a slow and regular rhythm, beat the sandy coast on the final stretch of the Domitian coast stretching towards Capo Miseno. At the point where the sea merges with the sky, the Cumans also saw Daedalus arriving, the famous architect of the Minotaur labyrinth, who once escaped from Crete with wax wings, landed here in Italy, taking refuge first in Cuma and then in Sicily.

Ischia: the island of ceramics

From the top of the promontory of the Phlegraean coast, if you sharpen your gaze you can see the powerful silhouette of Ischia, with its volcanic profile Mount Epomeo. The first Hellenes arrived here, from the island of Euboea, and gave it the name of ꞌPithekoussaiꞌ, similar to the term pitueois –rich in pine trees, of which the island is rich- or also pythos -amphora-. In fact, both in Ischia and Cuma, the colonists produced quality vases capable of even rivaling those coming from their homeland.

One of the most famous is the krater of an anonymous artist depicting a shipwreck scene and which in style resembles the large scenes painted on the Attic funerary kraters; however, it is not a banal assimilation, but rather a vivid description of what the Greeks experienced once they landed here: the overturned ship, the dead castaways attacked by enormous fish, shows a feeling that has always been present among the first settlers . A more earthly and fatalistic feeling, different from the epic that shone through in the depictions of the large Athenian funerary vases. For these reasons the unknown ceramographer from Ischia can be considered the first illustrator of the life of the Western Greeks.

Ah, but let's not delay and continue traveling with the camper. These thoughts remind me of my recent misadventures: I still fear that Poseidon will swallow me up in his waves, but that's another story.

The Phlegrean Fields

Lake Averno rises in the center of the Phlegraean Fields and in the surrounding area you will notice many other craters and volcanic fragments worn down by the sea, torrents and rain. A colossal war was once fought here between the gods and the giants who had attempted to overthrow them by climbing Mount Olympus in Greece. The most visible traces can be found in Solfatara, a quiescent volcano mouth, typical of fumaroles, mud volcanoes, sublimations of salts. For this reason Flegrei is the name that we Greeks have given to these places, ꞌPhelagriosꞌ in our language, ꞌardenteꞌ in yours.

Read also: “Campi Flegrei, in a camper under the volcano”

Herculaneum

Leaving the Campi Flegrei behind us we reach Ercolano –Heracleia in my language-, where the traces of volcanic activity are clearly visible. Unlike Pompeii, this city was submerged not by a rain of lapilli and ash, but by a flow of mud and lava that solidified. Herculaneum was a great center of craftsmanship and commercial activity, ever since Hercules arrived there in ancient times from the return of one of his fateful exploits in Iberia, ancient Spain. After landing on the Tyrrhenian coast, he saw the demon Cacus steal the oxen previously stolen from the monstrous king Geryon. Enraged, he followed the thief to his hideout which was exactly where we are now. After recovering the cattle, Hercules killed the demon and to glorify his feat he founded a city, Heracleia.

How many other destinations await us?

I can see that volcano fascinates you. The Vesuvio he is powerful and apparently calm, but inside he boils. I have to continue up to her jaws, would you feel like accompanying me? It's true, I admit it. When you found me I wasn't passing there by chance, I have a mission to complete. But it wasn't my intention to deceive you, I really know many fascinating destinations and you could help me find my way home.

Yes, I have to go back to my family who lives on a distant island and the journey is very long and dangerous. When you found me I was fleeing from the sorceress of Circeo: she locked me up for weeks and transformed my traveling companions into pigs! I have lost everything, and the only thing I would like is to be reunited with my loved ones.

So, do you want to go on this adventure with me?

Text by Fabrizio Roscini

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Thu you will find the second stage of the journey to Magna Grecia together with our mysterious guide.

Thu all the rest areas to best enjoy the atmosphere of the Campi Flegrei.

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