'See Naples and die,' the old saying has it. But a better motto would be: 'See Naples and go underground.' Tourists since the 18th century have enthused over the subterranean wonders of this part of Italy. In 1818 Mary Shelley and her husband visited the cave of the Cumaean Sibyl, and eighty years later H.G. Wells joined the throng of sightseers at the entrance to the Blue Grotto of Capri. Lake Avernus, the site of Aeneas's descent into the underworld, was a place of pilgrimage for the Victorians even though (as one of them reported) it meant being carried on the backs of porters through a 'black, repulsive pool' of water. The ancient Romans' skill in tunnelling had joined Avernus to the sea, and made it into a naval base. The half-mile-long road tunnels through the Ridge of Posilippo, connecting Naples with Pozzuoli, are also of Roman origin. The modern age has added an epic railway tunnel beneath the city.

LRB 25 October 1990 | PDF Download