Coastal Caves in the Flegrean
Area
What follows is a summary of information
contained in a report by Raffaella Lamagna and
Graziano Ferrari entitled Coastal Caves in the
Phlaegrean Area. It was done in 2006 and was
followed in 2007 by a second report of preliminary
findings. These studies were commissioned by the
Regional Park of the Campi Flegrei (the Phlaegrean
Fields; the English spelling 'Flegrean' is now common
and is the one I use here except when citing the title
of the studies). The Flegrean areas that make up the
regional park are not contiguous but are actually
separate sites in the Neapolitan suburbs of Bagnoli,
Posillipo, Nisida, and Agnano, and in the adjacent towns
of Bacoli, Monte di Procida, and Pozzuoli. In all, there
are about 3,000 hectares (30 sq. km or 11 sq. miles)
defined as protected areas, marine reserves, Sites of
Community Interest or Zones of Special Protection. The
Coastal Caves are one such area of special interest. The
photos (permission pending) in this entry are all from
the 2007 report of preliminary findings. Some of the
text, below, is cited from the authors' English version
of their Italian text.
The Grotta del Tuono (Thunder
Grotto) on the
Posillipo coast, seen by the light at
sunset
Coastal caves (submerged, littoral, or dry) are found all along the
Italian coastline. Generally speaking they may all be said
to be of environmental and scientific values. However, it
is also true that they are sorely understudied and, thus,
governmental agencies and park services have little chance
to enforce proper protection towards a sustainable use of
the caves. In particular, the Flegrean
Fields have a large number of coastal caves
(approximately 200). They may be tiny or huge, natural or
man-made, and they extend from Torregaveta in the west
just past Monte di Procida (the promontory that marks one
end of the Gulf of Naples) eastward to Mergellina, the
small harbor just before you get into the “real city” of
Naples. That is a coastline of about 30 km/20 miles. The
caves have been places of important biological research
since the 1700s. In comparison with other coastal cave
areas, the Flegrean Fields have a special quality in that
many of them combine both natural and historical points of
interest. Indeed, many caves are not natural, but were dug
in the soft limestone tuff by the Romans to get building
material for imperial and aristocratic villas or to build
service structures for the harbors used by the Western Imperial fleet.
Due to earth movements caused by
quakes and smaller (but important) movements* several
caves are now half filled with sea water; they are an
example of a very specialized and vulnerable habitat,
useful as environmental quality indicators. Generally
speaking, caves are conservative environments, as they
preserve traces of past eras and climates, quickly lost on
the surface. In particular, artificial coastal caves can
provide information about the relationship between
submerged ancient structures under investigation, and land
structures, now obliterated by recent urbanization.
*These smaller movements are called bradiseisms and, by
definition, are gradual movements caused by the filling
or emptying of an underground magma chamber and/or
hydrothermal activity. The Flegrean Briadiseism is of
such interest that it is now a proposed new site for
inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list (see this
off-site link).
This image is
one of many from the
second report that locate the caves
(the red dots) with precision. The text
contains descriptions of many of the caves.
In spite of general interest over the
last few centuries, the Flegrean caves have gone largely
unstudied, at least in a rigorous scientific sense.
Certainly, application of the multidisciplinary resources
available to modern archaeology, geology and marine
biology have been neglected. This means that the coastal
caves have not fulfilled their potential to advance
cultural and scientific knowledge, or even their potential
for tourism. In order to avoid further risk to these
important scientific and cultural resources, the Province
of Naples, Department of Agriculture, Parks and Civil
Defense and the Flegrean Fields Regional Park have
proposed a plan that would
(1) collect a specific bibliography
on the coastal caves;
(2) collect historical documentation such as
photographs, maps and surveys;
(3) identify and accurately map the location of
coastal caves;
(4) photograph the caves as they are at present;
(5) make a detailed study of the caves most
relevant in terms of geology, biology, and archaeology.
Ancient caves
along the shoreline of old Pozzuoli
The authors of Coastal Caves in
the Phlaegrean Area, Lamagna and Ferrari, cite these
works as references:
-Cavolini Filippo, 1785. Memorie per servire alla
storia de’ Polipi marini. Napoli.
-Cicogna Fabio, Carlo Nike Bianchi, Graziano Ferrari
& Paolo Forti (Eds.), 2003. Grotte marine:
cinquant'anni di ricerca in Italia. Ministero
dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio.
-Federazione Speleologica Campana, 2005. Grotte e
speleologia della Campania. Atlante delle cavità
naturali. Elio Sellino Editore, Avellino.
The authors'
second report is a major step
in cataloging and documenting the coastal caves. They
added in this second paper the area of Pizzofalcone, the height
overlooking the sea and the site of the original city of
Parthenope. My understanding is that this is an open-ended
project. It is certainly a treasure for future
researchers.
[Also see this related entry on the
coastal caves of the Cilento.]
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