Pozzuoli

The municipality of Pozzuoli, just beside Naples, is best known as a point of boat transfer for Capri and Ischia in the bay of Naples. Its history stretches back to pre-Roman times, when the first Greek settlements were established here. The settlement was later called Puteoli , and when it was later assimilated into the Roman Empire many well-off Romans made their homes here. St. Paul landed at Puteoli in A.D. 61 and stayed there for a week. Puteoli thrived as long as its port met the requirements of Roman trade, but suffered a great blow when the Romans built the port of Ostia. Owing to bradyseism, which submerged harbor facilities, and to the fall of Rome, Puteoli went into decline. In 410 it was besieged and sacked by Alaric, in 545 by Totila, and in 715 by Grimoaldo II, Duke of Benevento, who, however, did not succeed in taking it from its Byzantine masters. In the tenth century, it was several times the object of Saracen incursions. In 1014 Pozzuoli was taken by the Neapolitans, and later passed, with Naples, into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1448 and 1538, it suffered from severe earthquakes. In 1550 the Turks landed and wrought havoc on the town. It was a tourist resort and fishing centre until many houses were badly damaged by earth tremors in the nineteen seventies, which forced the evacuation of large numbers from their homes. In the intervening years many buildings have been renovated and life is returning once again to this ancient sea-side community.