Terme di Pozzuoli — Terme Stufe di Nerone

Terme Stufe di Nerone is a volcanic thermal complex near Pozzuoli in the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields) west of Naples, set within an active volcanic caldera system where sulfurous thermal waters and natural vapour caves have been used since Roman times — the Stufe di Nerone (Baths of Nero) were documented by ancient authors as among the most powerful therapeutic sulfur vapour baths in the Roman Empire. The Campi Flegrei is one of the most geologically active volcanic systems in Europe, exhibiting the extraordinary phenomenon of bradyseism — slow vertical ground movement of metres over decades — that has repeatedly raised and lowered the coastline of Pozzuoli throughout history, and whose volcanic activity heats the thermal springs and steam caves directly through the thin crust above the magma chamber. The ancient Solfatara volcanic crater, the Temple of Serapis half-submerged in the Pozzuoli harbour by bradyseism, and the Roman amphitheatre of Pozzuoli create an environment of volcanic geology and Roman archaeology of unique intensity around these ancient therapeutic vapour baths.