The history and beauty of the ancient world in the words of Horace:
"No gulf in the world shines more than the pleasant Baia"
Place of "otium" and "amoenitas", or rather rest and beauty, the ancient Baia lies submerged and preserved, immobile over time but always ready to reveal its treasures and bring its visitors back to an era of the carefree holidays of Roman patricians and emperors.
History
The history of Baia, whose name is said to derive from Bajos, helmsman and companion of Ulysses who was legendarily buried in this area, begins 2,400 years ago, when the current port area was still mainland and the promontories of Punta Epitaffio and Punta del Castello were closed by an isthmus of earth which thus created a basin called lacus baianum.
The first settlements date back to the third century BC, reaching their peak of splendour in the first century BC, when Baia, Bauli (the ancient Bacoli) and Puteoli (the ancient Pozzuoli), united in a sort of single area in which the majestic villas of the Roman patricians and, later, of the Emperors, arose. Gradually, the Campi Flegrei area, which has always been affected by intense bradyseism and volcanic phenomena, continued its progressive sinking. And thus, he heart of the ancient world's holiday resort slowly sank into the sandy bottom of the Gulf of Baia, at a variable depth ranging between a minimum of 2 metres to a maximum of 16 metres.
Heritage
At roughly 7 metres depth, on the seabed in front of Punta Epitaffio, we find the nymphaeum of the Claudian age (41-54 AD), belonging to a large complex that extended from the top of the headland to the ancient Baiae, up to roughly 400 metres from the shore at that time.
The sculptures found underwater were subsequently transferred and exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of the Campi Flegrei, set up inside the Aragonese Castle of Baia, while copies of the statues were eventually relocated to the original position of the submerged site.
To the east of the nymphaeum of Punta Epitaffio there was also a building with baths (1st-3rd century AD) and another nymphaeum from the Domitian age (81-96 AD ), while to the south-east stood an imposing villa dating back to the Hadrianic age (117-138 AD).
Worth noting are also the submerged remains of the commercial ports of Baia and, further north, of Capo Miseno; the latter was the historical seat of the Roman imperial fleet.
The park's inestimable value is also the result of the richness of its ecosystem, formed by a pre-coralligenous seabed and by communities of marine phanerogams, mainly Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa.
The naturalistic importance of these sea beds, combined with the archaeological importance of the finds, is in fact recognized by both Italian and EU legislation.
