Napoli Sotterranea = Naples Underground

One person described Naples to us as a big lasagna. It was built layer upon layer. The Greeks created the bottom layer about 2500 years ago when they began to dig out and remove stone to build the Neapolis, today known as the city of Naples.  This created 280 miles of tunnels and caves 120 feet beneath the city. 

Examples of stone cut out for buildings

Later the Romans used these areas as aqueducts to service about 10,000 homes.

Eventually, other structures were built such as a Greco-Roman theater where the Emperor Nero actually performed.  More layers of the lasagna were added as apartments were built on top of the remains of the theater. Archeologists discovered the rooms of the theater by researching the structures at street level, noting arches typical of the Roman era, and realizing one family's wine cellar was originally the back stage theater dressing rooms.Looking up from the backstage area into an apartment.

We visited one section of the tunnels in the historic city center and it was not an easy tour. The tunnels are pitch black and very narrow. Everything felt damp. Walking out of the underground took your breath away.

During World War II, Naples was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Italy. The underground tunnels and caves were then used as bomb shelters. When the neighborhood near our section of underground was destroyed, the caves became home to over 200,000 persons who had lost their homes and many of their artifacts remained in the caves after the war.

Graffiti from 1940s - "Aiuto" means Help!