Grotta di Cocceio

The Grotta di Cocceio is an ancient Roman tunnel nearly a kilometre in length connecting Lake Avernus with Cumae and dating from 38-36 BC [1]. It was burrowed through the tuff stone of Monte Grillo by the architect Lucius Cocceius Auctus at the command of Agrippa who was in the process of converting the Lake into a military port, the Portus Julius [1]. The tunnel was wide enough to allow the passage of two wagons [1]. The Avernus side of the passage was decorated with a colonnade and had many statues in niches hewn into the tuff walls of the entrance [1]. The tunnel is also known as the Grotta della Pace, in reference to a Spanish captain, Pietro de Pace, who made use of the tunnel in 1508–1509 to plunder the ruins of Cumae, which, at the time, still bore many rich items [1].