The people, places and events that have shaped our history and culture
Cumae, around twenty miles north of Naples, was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy. Established in the 8th century BC the fortified port-city became an early gateway for Greek culture and trade in the Italian peninsula. Today, its extensive ruins are preserved in situ, now slightly inland due to the retreating [...]
Las Médulas is the largest open-pit gold mine from the Roman Empire. Operational between the 1st and 3rd century AD, water pressure was used to extract the gold. Fresh water from nearby mountain lakes (at a higher altitude) was directed through canals to reservoirs constructed on top of the gold-bearing hills. Beneath the reservoirs, channels [...]
Barnes Old Cemetery is a hidden Victorian-era graveyard located near Barnes Common in London. Established in 1854, it was officially abandoned in 1966. Today, it is also a tranquil nature reserve, famous for its Gothic atmosphere where headstones, crosses, and angels are being slowly reclaimed by the dense woodland.
The Bay of Baiae, ten miles north of Naples, is the exotic former resort of ancient Roman senators and patricians, famed for its thermal baths. Over the generations the bay has gradually sunk beneath the sea, a victim of bradyseism. In the photograph, the original Roman shoreline would have extended one hundred meters further out [...]
The Piscina Mirabilis is a large ancient Roman freshwater cistern located in Bacoli near Naples. Built in the 1st Century BC, it served as the terminal reservoir for the 100-kilometre-long Aqua Augusta aqueduct, storing fresh water to supply the imperial western fleet stationed at nearby Misenum (pictured below). Photographs (c) Essential History.