Monday, March 24, 2008

Lago D'Averno -- About 16km (10 miles) west of Naples, a bit north of Baia, is a lake occupying an extinct volcanic crater. Known to the ancients as the Gateway to Hades, it was for centuries shrouded in superstition. Its vapors were said to produce illness and death, and Lake Averno could well have been the source of the expression "Still waters run deep." Facing the lake are the ruins of what has been known as the Temple of Apollo from the 1st century A.D. and what was once thought to be the Cave of the Cumaean Sibyl . The Sibyl is said to have ferried Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, across the lake, where he traced a mysterious spring to its source, the River Styx. In the 1st century B.C., Agrippa turned it into a harbor for Roman ships by digging out a canal. Take the Napoli-Torre Gaveta bus from Baia to reach the site.
It was RAINING... But they loved being at ... the GATEWAY to HADES!!

1 comment:

Melissa Miller said...

How fun! I want to come and play!!