A site different from the others, but strongly connected to them. We are in a nerve center of
Phlegraean thermalism, where in ancient times the emergence, in the middle of the sea, of hot
waters and vapors must have been very strong. So much so as to push the ancient Romans to
build an artificial island, one of a kind, to enjoy the healthiness of these products of Phlegraean
volcanism.
The latest hypotheses of the archaeologists see in the pillars, which are now visible at about 10
meters deep, the base for a large platform in which the vapors had to fill the baths of Marco
Licinio Crasso Frugi, if correct are the interpretations linked to the name of the owner of this
incredible “thermal island”, connected to the mainland through the nearby Vai Herculanea.
But beyond the hypotheses, what it is possible to see today under water are these majestic pilae,
partly collapsed, partly still in their original position, among which the residues of volcanic
emissions still flow, weakened after the emergence of Mount New in 1538.
However, the beauty of an almost lunar landscape located on the seabed remains, in union with a
peculiar marine flora and fauna, thanks to the creation of a very peculiar habitat, strongly shaped
by the strength of the subsoil of the Phlegraean Fields.