BACOLI

The town of Bacoli might correspond to the ancient Bauli, whose name derives from the legend which relates that Hercules rested there with the droves of cattle (Boaulia) seized from the mythical Geryon in Spain.
Bauli lies between Baiae (the modern Baia) and Misenum. It was famous for its wonderful villas of Roman patricians and rich citizens that overspread the hills and the coast. It is not by chance that here we can find the largest cistern belonging to a private villa, probably the villa of “Quintus Hortensius”. This cistern, very interesting structurally, on the extreme east flank of the promontory between the bays of Bacoli and the Poggio, is known as “Cento Camerelle”. Another well-known villa of Bauli was that of Agrippina, where Nero ordered his mother to be killed. After this matricide, the remains of Agrippina were placed in a sepulchre erected by her friends near Caesar’s Villa, on the road that goes from Baiae to Misenum.

But the identification of this tomb as the “Tomb of Agrippina” is erroneous. It was, in reality, the remains of a “theatre-nymphaeum” belonging to a Roman villa. To the south of Bacoli, on the upper terrace of the highest hill to the east of the “Mare Morto”, there is another cistern. Architecturally and monumentally one of the finest reservoirs of its kind, Petrarca called this huge grandious construction, similar to a temple, “Piscina Mirabilis”.
Later, Bauli became an Imperial residence and domain, and little by little the old private villas became part of the imperial estates.
Then the barbarian invasions, the fall of Rome, the telluric (bradyseismic) phenomena, swept away every sign of the old grandeur of Bauli. Centuries of darkness during which the lands were called “vacue” that is abbandoned Bauli disappeared! About the XVII century, from the “Casale di Posillipo” some families of Jewish descent, driven by the historical events, reached Bacoli from the sea, landing at the beach of the “Poggio”.

They were called, at that time, “New Christians” for their conversion to the Catholic religion, but, of their Jewish origin still remain a lot of first names and some surnames. Names such as Mosè, Isaia, Abramo, Giacobbe, Geremia, Giosuè, Samuele can be considered a testimony of the Jewish origin since, from the second half of the XVI century on, the Catholics were obliged to use the names of Saints and so the names of the Old Testament were mainly used by the Jewish and by the Protestant. The work of these pioneers, who braved malaria and difficulties in this marshy land of “Bacula”, can be considered the source of the new Bacoli. Before the Second World War it was famous for its wine, fish, mussels, the tufa stones and the “pozzolana”. Nowadays the early produce (fruits and vegetables), the citrus (especially tangerines and lemons), the mussel farming, and the catch of fish are the peculiarity of this area along with tourism. As a matter of fact, night-clubs, restaurants, pubs and beaches are very popular especially with the Neapolitan all year round.

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