Cumae

Cumae, Italy

The Temple of Jupiter foundations on the Cumae acropolis stand against a sunset over the sea.

Cumae is the mainland Italian foothold of the early Greeks, where a hilltop acropolis, a legendary prophetess's cave and Roman ruins share one headland.

The place

Cumae sits on the coast of Campania, west of Naples, in the volcanic landscape of the Phlegraean Fields. The ruins spread over a low hill and the flatter ground beneath it, and they are split between the municipalities of Pozzuoli and Bacoli, which is why signs and maps sometimes disagree about where the site begins. The settlement was the first Greek colony on the Italian mainland, founded by settlers from the island of Euboea in the 8th century BCE, and it later grew into a prosperous Roman town. What remains is a loose scatter rather than a tidy ruin: an acropolis on the summit with temple foundations and sea views, a lower city of streets and public buildings among pines and scrub, and a set of tunnels and galleries cut into the rock. The setting is part of the appeal. Water lies on one side, the farmland of the Campanian plain on the other, and the cones and lakes of the old volcanic district all around. It is a place for slow walking rather than quick ticking-off, and it draws far fewer people than Pompeii or Herculaneum, though school groups and tour coaches can fill the main paths on spring mornings. Summer heat on the exposed hilltop is real, and shade is thin. Many of the statues, vases and inscriptions once found here now sit in the archaeological museum of the Phlegraean Fields, housed in the Aragonese Castle nearby. Pairing the two gives the site a context that bare foundations cannot.

Its story

Cumae's story begins before the Greeks. Excavations have turned up traces of a Bronze Age community that lived in pits, and later houses of Iron Age peoples whom the Greeks called Ausones and Opici. Their territory was known as Opicia. Into this landscape came settlers from the Euboean cities of Eretria and Chalcis in the 8th century BCE, having already established themselves on nearby Ischia, then called Pithecusae. Two leaders are named as joint founders, Megasthenes of Chalcis and Hippocles of Cyme. They chose a hill that the sea guarded on one side while the rich soil of the Campanian plain lay on the other, a position that suited both trade by ship and farming. The colony prospered quickly. Within the same century it was strong enough to send out settlers of its own, one group to found Zancle in Sicily and another to found Tritaea in Achaea, according to what the traveller Pausanias was told. Later Cumae fell under Roman control and became a wealthy town, and the Romans kept its prophetic legend alive. The Sibyl of Cumae, a priestess said to speak for Apollo, appears in Roman literature, including Virgil's Aeneid, where the hero Aeneas consults her before descending to the underworld. The volcanic lake of Avernus nearby was thought to be an entrance to that underworld, which gave the whole district a faintly sinister reputation. Cumae declined over the centuries that followed, and archaeologists have been uncovering it in stages since the late nineteenth century.

What to see

Culture

Culture at Cumae is mostly a matter of stories carried across layers of time. The Greek founders brought their gods, with Apollo central to the traditions of the acropolis, and the Sibyl became the site's lasting figure: a priestess who delivered prophecies, remembered by the Romans as the guide who helped Aeneas reach the underworld. Writers from antiquity onward kept returning to her, and her image travelled into medieval and Renaissance European art. Around the site, modern life belongs to Campania, where Neapolitan speech, family-run farms and a strong feeling for local food shape the daily rhythm. The neighbouring towns of Pozzuoli and Bacoli have their own fishing and shellfish habits, and the Phlegraean district has long mixed myth with geology, since steaming ground and crater lakes made the underworld feel close. Visitors who enjoy classical literature find the place rewarding, because the sixth book of the Aeneid reads differently once the cave and the lake of Avernus are in view. Those who do not know the poem still pick up the atmosphere from the quiet, the pines and the sea. Local guides are usually keen to explain which walls are Greek, which Roman and which later repair, and a short guided walk is often worth taking. In the cave and tunnels, keep voices low and stay on the marked routes, and never climb on the ancient walls or pocket stones and pottery fragments as souvenirs.

What to wear

Fashion around Cumae has no single regional costume to point to, so the story runs through the wider Greek, Roman and Campanian past. Greek settlers wore the chiton and himation, draped garments of wool and linen, and Roman citizens later added the tunic and the wool toga. Campanian folk dress, seen mostly at festivals and in dance groups, uses embroidered bodices, full skirts, lace and bright cotton and wool, often shown at tarantella performances. Day to day, people in Naples and the coastal towns dress in a smart-casual way: ironed shirts, linen in warm months, good leather shoes and a taste for tailoring that the Neapolitan tradition is known for. Beach clothes belong on the beach, and locals rarely wear them in town. A visitor to the ruins should plan for sun and uneven ground. Wear a hat, sunglasses and light, breathable layers, and carry a thin jacket or scarf because the tunnels and the cave stay cool. Shoes matter most: trainers or walking sandals with a firm sole cope with worn stone, steps and loose gravel, while flip-flops and smooth soles do not. Shoulders and knees need covering only if the day also includes a church in Pozzuoli, Bacoli or Naples.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. April–May and September–October bring mild days that suit walking on an exposed hilltop. July and August are hot with little shade, and winter can be wet and windy, though the site is then at its quietest.

How long. 1

Getting there. Fly to Naples international airport, or to Rome Fiumicino and take a fast train to Naples. From Naples, local trains on the Cumana line run towards Torregaveta, then a short bus or taxi ride reaches the site; check current services before travelling.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources