O-163 The stufe di nerone (Nero`s Oven): an ancient artificial cave

Hellenic Speleological Society
• E - Mining works: 4
• Promiscuous works: 1 (typol. A - D)
Caves were numbered according to the directions of the Italian Speleological Society: each artificial cave is marked by CA followed by a
regional progressive number and by the letters indicating the region and
the province where the cave is located, and then followed by a progressive
number. The letters used by the Artificial Caves Registry of Trentino are
VT/TN, and VT/BZ indicates the artificial caves of Alto Adige 4.
Please note that the regional acronym for Trentino - Alto Adige is VT,
which is Venezia Tridentina, deriving from the first official name of the
region, dating back to the 1920’s, right after the First World War, when
Trentino - Alto Adige was annexed to Italy: Venezia Tridentina precisely
coincided with the regional territory of today.
We chose VT for artificial caves mostly for historical reasons, and to
conform artificial caves data to the data in the Trentino - Alto Adige Natural Cave Registry, which was created when the official name of Trentino
- Alto Adige was Venezia Tridentina. The acronym used at the time, VT, is
still used today in the Natural Caves Registry.
Thanks
I would like to thank the President of the Speleological Commission
of the Tridentine Alpine Society, Marco Ischia; the Administrator of the
Trentino - Alto Adige Cave Registry, Riccardo Decarli; the Artificial
Caves Commission of the Italian Speleological Society; Arianna Tamburini; Giuseppe Fantauzzi; Enrico Fratnik; Daniele Sighel and the Trentino Speleological Group from Villazzano - Trento for helping me with
this report.
4
Bibliography
ARDITO F., 2002. Le miniere di Monteneve e Ridanna. Opera Ipogea - Memorie della Commissione Nazionale Cavità Artificiali, Genova,
4 (3): 52 - 56.
BORSATO T., MARZI C.,1998. Trento città fortezza. Trento.
GORFER G., 2004. La storia, da: Il Monte Celva. L’ambiente e la
storia. Trento, 57 - 112.
ISCHIA M., TAMBURINI A., 2004. Percorsi di guerra. Speleologia
- Rivista della Società Speleologica Italiana, Bologna, 25 (2): 28 - 39.
MARTINELLI V., 1989. Un generale bresciano nella Grande Guerra
(Achille Papa - Medaglia d’Oro). Montichiari (BS).
MENEGHINI M., 2005. Nasce il Catasto delle Cavità Artificiali del
Trentino - Alto Adige”. Mondo sotterraneo - Notiziario di speleologia del
Trentino - Alto Adige, Bollettino SAT, Trento, 58 (1): VIII - XII.
SIMONI D., 2004. La miniera di Faedo. La nostra geografia - Giornale ufficiale della Associazione Italiana Insegnanti di Geografia Sezione
Trentino - Alto Adige, Trento, 4 (1): 36 - 39.
TOURING CLUB ITALIANO, 1995. Guide d’Italia. Trentino - Alto
Adige e Friuli - Venezia Giulia. Milano.
ZAMMATTEO P., 2005. Costruttori di miniere. Poster Trentino Bimestrale della Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Trento, 5 (2): 56 - 66.
Author’s address: Marco Meneghini
Administrator of the Trentino - Alto Adige Artificial Caves Registry
of the Italian Speleological Society and Tridentine Alpine Society
c/o S.A.T. - Sede centrale Via Manci, 57 38100 Trento
Home address: C.so IV Novembre, 130
38016 Mezzocorona (TN) - Italia
Tel. 0461604063 - marcom73@libero.it
For example: CA 1 VT TN - Cave located North of Romagnano (Trento)
O-163
The stufe di nerone (Nero’s Oven): an ancient artificial cave near Naples (Italy).
Arrigo A. Cigna, SSI, Fraz. Tuffo, 1-14023, COCCONATO (Asti), Italy
Gregory J Middleton, PO Box 269, Sandy Bay, Tas. 7006, Australia
Abstract
The earliest known example of a cave plan was published in 1546 in
a book by Georg Agricola. It represents a set of branching tunnels called
the Stufe di Nerone (Nero’s Oven) in the volcanic region of Pozzuoli near
Naples. This cave was excavated in the tufa deposits to reach hot springs
to be used therapeutically.
This old plan, another one drawn at the end of the 18th century and
a modern one are here reported together with some ancient prints of this
cave which is just one remnant of the rich cultural- and geo- heritage of
this corner of Italy.
Key words: ancient artificial cave, the oldest cave plan, Italy.
Introduction
Agricola (1546) published what can be considered to be the earliest
known example of a cave plan. (Fig. 1) as reported by Shaw (1992). In the
past it was a large spa developed probably along three levels. The first one
at the sea level is presently underwater. The second level opens a few me-
tres above the road and is now inhabited by a family (Middleton, 2000),
while only a few halls of the third still remain about 10 m higher.
This cave lies in the volcanic region of Pozzuoli near Naples, in a small
hill between the Lake of Lucrino to the north; the Gulf of Baia to the south
and the “Rione delle Mofete” to the west, about 200m north of the “Punta
dell’Epitaffio”. From the main road which runs from Pozzuoli to Baia, a
small lane running along the foot of a high cliff leads to the cave. The lane
bears a typical marble street sign “Via Stufe di Nerone”.
Agricola’s description (16th Century)
The plan itself (Fig. 1) appears only in the first edition of Agricola’s
book (1546) and the Italian translation of 1550. According to his description, there are hot waters at the foot of a hill and, by climbing up 43 steps
of a stairway, the “largest steam room ever found, with a length of three
miles and more” is reached. Obviously this length is grossly overestimated because the plan is rather similar to a modern survey (see later) where
the length of the surveyed passages is around 150 m. In another edition
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Hellenic Speleological Society
(Agricola, 1558) the plan is replaced by a cut-away view of the hill (Fig.
2) which is really interesting, even if it cannot be as accurate as a survey.
Fig. 1 - The plan published by Agricola (1546) of the Stufe di Nerone (Nero’s Oven).
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Os cuniculis: tunnel entrance. Fossa: ditch. Locus hic, sedes sudantium: this is the steam room where people sweat. Fons aquae exiliens, quae
ad sex cubitos levatur: water source six cubits deep (about 2.7 m) Via nulli
tentanda: passage to be avoided by everyone. Hic locus calidus exhalat
pestilens quiddam, quare homines mortui concidunt, cera liquefecit, cerei
extinguuntur: this hot place releases something noxious, for this reason
men dye, wax melt, candles extinguish. Via fuliginis plena: passage full
of soot. Pars muri collapsa: collapsed part of the wall. Cinis albus & calidissimus, qui genua inambulantis attingit: ash white and very hot, which
covers the knees of walking people. Saxu in medio quod Caballu, vocas:
rock in the passage, called the Horse. Aer hoc in loco teperatus: in this
place the air is temperate. Hoc in loco fons ingens, cuius aqua exilit: in
this place there is a large source of water flowing away.
The steam room (literally “Tritoli’s sweaty hall”) was comprised of
some (at least three) rooms excavated in the rock and supplied with stone
beds in the walls. The recent transformation into a private house modified the original appearance although ithe structure is the same. The heat
released by a hot aquifer reaches a room (presently used as a kitchen)
through two passages, which cannot be easily visited on account of the
high temperature and the obstruction by a heap of rubble in one of them.
The passages are nearly horizontal, but the main one, towards its end has a
slope of about 30° and reaches a pool of water with a temperature of 92°C
(Abruzzese Saccardi ,1974-75).
Saxum caballum: rock called horse. Cinis albus et calidus: ash white and
very hot. Aer temperatus: temperate air.
Panvini’s description (18-19th Centuries)
The Abbé Pasquale Panvini, a learned person, doctor of Philosophy
and Medicine, member of academies of sciences and art, wrote a book
describing a trip lasting three days to look for antiquities in the vicinity of
Naples (Panvini, 1818). He used the tables published some years earlier
by Paoli (1768) to illustrate his text. The book by Panvini is very rare
and now commands a high price. Luckily, this book was reprinted as a
facsimile in 1990.
According to his description, along the road from Pozzuoli to Baia, at
the sea level there were rooms excavated in the rock, sometimes inundated
by the sea. One of these rooms was very hot as was the sand of the near-by
seashore. Other rooms had baths inside and in a large one there were the
remains of statues with their hands showing the illness to be treated in the
corresponding bath. Some inscriptions described in great detail the effects
of such baths.
These indications, which could be easily interpreted by ordinary people without any need of instructions by medical doctors, caused three famous physicians from Salerno to go to the place and destroy the statues
and the inscriptions! Unfortunately, according to Dionisus from Samo, the
small ship carrying these men was wrecked during their return home.
Somewhat higher along the same road, there was a modern (for the
18th Century!) building where the patients from the hospital of Nunziata
in Naples (up to 900 per year), could be accommodated, waiting for the
treatment in the steam rooms. These halls were found along some passages to reach the source of the hot water (Fig. 3).
According to tradition the passages were excavated by direction of
Nero (hence the name Nero’s Oven). These “precious baths and steam
rooms”, to use the very words of Panvini, where described by Alcadino
from Syracuse, physician of Frederic II emperor and king of Naples, by
Sebastiano Bartoli , under order of the vice-king Pietrantonio of Aragona,
in his work “Thermologia Aragoniana” of 1668, and by other illustrious
persons.
Fig. 3 - The plan published by Paoli (1768) and reported by Panvini (1818). Plan of
the Cave AAA of the Oven on the road to Baja,, see Tab. 35. B Higher passage of the
Hot Oven. CCC. Lower passage reaching the boiling salt water at sea level at D EEE
different rooms for patients’ rest.
Fig. 2 - The cut-away view of the hill with the Stufe di Nerone (Agricola, 1558).
Sudatorium magnum: Large steam room. Sinus Baianus: Gulf of Baia.
Balneae Salveati: Bath of Salveati. GR XLIII: 43 steps. Os cuniculi: tunnel entrance. Sedes sudantium: steam room. Cuniculus: passage. Fons
ebulliens: boiling source. Exhalationes lethales: lethal fumes. Via fuliginosa: passage full of soot. Pars muri collapsa: collapsed part of the wall.
21-28 August 2005, Kalamos, Hellas
Modern description (20th Century)
In 1974-75 Abruzzese Saccardi published a plan of the cave (Fig. 4)
with a short description. This author was particularly interested in the micro-organisms living in a very hot environment. In fact he found some
bacteria living in the hot water at 92°C (density 0.980 at 92° and 0.015 at
15°C). Fig. 5 shows the range of some micro-organisms with respect to
pH and temperature. Unfortunately no further researches were carried out
Hellenic Speleological Society
at the Stufe by Abruzzese Saccardi (pers. comm. 2004) Such an organism
appears to be of particular interest as it can live at a higher temperature
than any other.
Conclusions
From a historical point of view this artificial cave is very interesting
because of its long existence and the records of it through many centuries.
Presently it deserves much more attention from the authorities concerned
with cultural heritage. In particular, it should no longer be used as a residence and should be restored to its original state. The people living in it
should be provided with a normal house.
On the other hand, the presence of a pool of hot water hosting microorganisms should be the subject of further research, with the advantage of
the site location close to a city where such studies may be conveniently
carried out.
So there are a least two avenues for further investigations in this cave,
one historical including an accurate exploration of the passages including
the parts not normally safely entered due to high temperature and fumes.
The other research field concerns the study of life in an extreme environment.
It would be of great benefit if these investigations were taken up by
local researchers.
Acknowledgements
The authors are particularly grateful to Dr.Trevor R. Shaw for drawing
attention to this interesting site and for his help in retrieving old literature
concerning Nero’s Oven.
References
Abruzzese Saccardi A., 1974-75 - Note biologiche nella grotta “Stufe
di Nerone” (Napoli). Annuario Speleologico, CAI, Sez. di Napoli: 3-6.
Agricola G., 1546 - De ortu & causis subterraneorum Lib. V. De natura
eorum quae effluunt ex terra Lib. IIII. De natura fossilium Lib. X. De veteribus & novis metallis Lib. II. Bermannus, sive De re metallica Dialogus.
InterpretatioGermanica vocum rei metallicae, addito Indice faecundissimus. Froben, Basel: 145-147.
Agricola G., 1548 - De ortu & causis subterraneorum Lib. V. De natura
eorum quae effluunt ex terra Lib. IIII. De natura fossilium Lib. X. De veteribus & novis metallis Lib. II. Bermannus, sive De re metallica Dialogus
Lib. I. InterpretatioGermanica vocum rei metallicae, addito duplici Indice,
altero rerum, altero locorum. Froben, Basel: 141-143.
Agricola G., 1550 - De la generatione de le cose, che sotto la terra
sono, e de le cause de’ loro effetti e nature Lib. V. De la Natura di quelle
cose, che da la terra scorrono, Lib. IIII. De la Natura de le cose Fossili, e
che sotto la terra si cavano, Lib. X. De le Minere antiche e moderne, Lib.
II. Il Bermanno, o de le cose Metallice Dialogo. Tramezzino, Vinegia:
142-143.
Middleton, G., 2000 - An attempt to resurvey the Stufe di Nerone. J.
Syd. Speleol. Soc., 44(8): 263-266
Panvini P., 1818 - Il forestiere alle antichità e curiosità naturali di Pozzuoli, Cuma, Baja e Miseno. Napoli, Gervasi. Reprint 1990, La Botteguccia, Napoli.
Paoli P.A., 1768 - Avanzi delle antichità che esistono a Pozzuoli, Cuma
e Baia. Antiquitatum Puteolis, Cumis, Baiis esistentis reliquiae. Napoli.
Shaw T.R., 1992 - History of cave science. Sydney Speleological Society, 2nd Edn., Sydney.
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Fig. 4 - Plan of the cave (survey by R. Delgado) (from Panvini, 1974-75).
Fig. 5 - Distribution of some micro-organisms, pH vz. Temperature (from Panvini,
1974-75 modified).
O-164
the speleological bibliography of Sardinia (Italy)
Jo De Waele
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, via Trentino 51, 09127 Cagliari, Italy, e-mail : geoam@unica.it
Abstract
The first citation on caves in Sardinia dates back to 1580 when
Johannis Francisci Farae mentions some famous caves such as Grotta
Verde (Alghero), Grotta San Giovanni (Domusnovas) and the Su Gologone spring (Oliena). Sixty years have to pass before another author,
Salvatorem Vitalem Marenses (1639) mentions the Ucca ‘e Bobois cave
(Ussassai), and thirty-four years later Jorge Aleo (1673) describes the
archaeological cave of Bonaria (Cagliari).
During the XVIIIth century only two authors, Francesco Cetti (1771)
and Giuseppe Cossu (1799), mention some minor caves for their faunistic
(sea-birds) and geographical interest respectively.
In the XIXth century many travellers discover the Island and give
descriptions of the most famous caves, especially the Nettuno cave near
Alghero. The most interesting speleological observations and descriptions
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