Crypta Neapolitana

The Crypta Neapolitana is an ancient Roman road tunnel over 700 metres long, built in c. 37 BC by architect Lucius Cocceius Auctus for Marcus Agrippa during the civil war between Octavian and Sextus Pompeius. The tunnel connected Naples to the Phlegrean Fields and Pozzuoli along the via Domiziana, with three secondary tunnels providing light and ventilation through openings overlooking the bay. The eastern entrance lies in the Vergiliano park near the so-called Virgil's Tomb and the burial place of poet Giacomo Leopardi. Used as a roadway until the early 20th century and as a WWII bomb shelter, it has since been restored as an archaeological site.