Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Architecture
Imperial seaside villas, storybook Angevin castles, oversized Bourbon palaces: Campania
offers a veritable anthology of architectural classics. It's an overwhelming heap, so why not
start with the undisputed highlights?
Graeco-Roman Legacies
Few corners of the world can match the breadth and depth of Campania's ancient architec-
ture. From Greek temples to Roman amphitheatres and villas, the region offers a crash
course in classical aesthetics, ambition and ingenuity.
The Greeks invented the Doric architectural order and used it
to great effect at the 6th-centuryBC temples of Paestum, con-
firming not only the ancient Greeks' power, but also their pen-
chant for harmonious proportion. While the temples are the
most impressive survivors, they are not Campania's only Hel-
lenic mementos. In Naples, Piazza Bellini reveals remnants of
the city's 5th-century-BC walls, while traces of Greek fortifica-
tions linger at the acropolis of Cuma.
Having learned a few valuable lessons from the Greeks, the
Romans refined architecture to such a degree that their building
techniques, designs and mastery of harmonious proportion un-
derpin most of the world's architecture and urban design to this
day. The Greeks may have created Naples' first aqueduct, but it
was the Romans who extended and improved it. The aqueduct led to the glorious Piscina
Mirabilis, a cathedral-like cistern once complete with sophisticated hydraulics.
The space below Pozzuoli's Anfiteatro Flavio also lays testament to Roman ingenuity.
Here, an elliptical corridor is flanked by a series of low cellae set on two floors and capped
by trapdoors that open straight to the arena above. The cellae on the upper floor held the
caged wild animals used in the stadium games. Hoisted up through the trap doors, the an-
imals could then spring immediately from darkness into the bright light of the arena with
rock-star effect.
Across the bay, it's a case of Vogue Ancient Living in Pompeii, home to many of Italy's
best-preserved classical abodes. Here, buildings like Villa dei Misteri, Villa del Fauno and
the Casa del Menandro illustrate the trademarks of classical domestic architecture, from an
Ancient Marvels
» Villa Oplontis, Torre An-
nunziata
» Villa dei Misteri, Pompeii
» Paestum
» Piscina Mirabilis, Bacoli
» Anfiteatro Flavio,
Pozzuoli
 
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