🏛️ The Piscina Mirabilis at Bacoli (Naples)

🏛️The Piscina Mirabilis at Bacoli , The "Water Cathedral" -  1st century A.D.⚓️💧

It is the largest drinking water cistern ever built, serving as a supply point for the Roman fleet, the Classis Misenensis, which later became the Classis Praetoria Misenensis Pia Vindex of the Italian Navy, stationed at the port of Miseno, on the northwest side of the Gulf of Naples.

Entirely carved out of tuff, it is 72 x 25 meters wide and 15 meters deep, with a capacity of 12,000 cubic meters.

It is covered by a barrel vault supported by 48 enormous cruciform pillars, arranged in four rows, forming five naves. In the central nave is a 20 x 5 meter limaria pool, 1.10 meters deep, a basin used for the periodic emptying and cleaning of the cistern.

The cistern (its current name was given in the late seventeenth century) was the terminal reservoir of the Augustan aqueduct or “Aqua Augusta” which, from the Avellino springs of Serino, along a route almost 100 km long, brought water to Naples, the Phlegraean Fields and many other locations in the Campania countryside.

🔥  Curiosity

🔱 The "Water Cathedral"

A Grand Nickname: Because of its immense size, the orderly rows of 48 cruciform pillars, and its high barrel-vaulted ceiling, the Piscina Mirabilis has earned the nickname "The Water Cathedral" or "The Cathedral of Bacoli." Walking through it truly feels like being inside a colossal, silent, underground church.

A Stop on the Grand Tour: In the 18th century, after it was emptied and out of use, the monument became a famous stop for European aristocrats and intellectuals on the Grand Tour. Famous visitors who were mesmerized by its grandeur include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Alexandre Dumas.

The Name's Origin: The name "Piscina Mirabilis" literally means "Wondrous Pool" in Latin. It is popularly believed that this admiring name was given by the 14th-century Tuscan poet Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) after one of his visits.

📍 Location : Via Piscina Mirabile, 27, 80070 Bacoli NA

Official Tickets  + accompanied entry :  https://www.coopculture.it/en/products/piscina-mirabilis-accompanied-entry-00002/

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