Parco Archeologico del Pausilypon, Naples

The Parco Archeologico del Pausilypon is an archaeological landscape reached through the immense Grotta di Seiano. The park opened to visitors in 2009, with access from Discesa Coroglio 36 through this ancient passage. Cut into the tufa of Posillipo, the tunnel stretches for about 770 metres and once linked the villas of Pausilypon with the ports of Puteoli and Cumae.

Its long, irregular interior includes side passages that open above the bay, bringing in air and daylight. After centuries of neglect, the gallery was rediscovered during roadworks in 1841 and restored for public passage under Ferdinand II of Bourbon. During the Second World War, local residents used it as an air-raid shelter.

Beyond the tunnel lie the remains of Pausilypon, the seaside estate built in the 1st century BC for the Roman equestrian Publius Vedius Pollio. Its complex included a theatre for 2000 spectators, a smaller Odeon, reception rooms and baths. Pollio’s villa later became an imperial residence, and its surviving water conduits still reveal the scale of its luxury. Below the coastal viewpoints, the submerged remains belong to the protected Gaiola marine park.