Antro della Sibilla Cumana - a photo on Flickriver

            In the territory of the municipalities of Bacoli and Pozzuoli is the archaeological site that housed the ancient Greek colony of Cuma, founded around 740 BC, to which the mythical figure of the Cumaean Sibyl is intimately linked. The famous "Sibyl's Cave" is identified with an artificial gallery in the archaeological site, and is currently the destination of many tourists who are fascinated by the history linked to it.
It is said that kings, great heroes or simple villagers went to this place to obtain answers to large and small dilemmas or simply to know the will of the Gods. The prophecies of the Cumaean Sibyl were in fact considered absolute truth.
The length of the path is 101 meters, while the height of the tunnel reaches 5 meters.
Entering the narrow tunnel leading to the oracle room, you cannot see the end of the path, a sensation that manages to give a sort of sacredness to the mysterious structure.
The cave was discovered in 1932 by the archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri.

The legend

The Sibyl was one of the young virgin priestesses of the god Apollo. Legend has it that the latter fell in love with the beautiful Sibyl and promised her to fulfill any wish she had in exchange for her eternal loyalty. The Sibyl took a pile of sand with her hands and asked for as many years of life as the grains collected were. Apollo accepted granting her wish and she in exchange spent her life in the cave of Cumae, becoming the oracle that gives responses to the faithful of the God Apollo. The girl neglected, however, to ask the god also for her eternal youth and so she became older than her every day, until she disappeared. However, her voice remained eternal, that she continued to spread the oracles.
The first to speak of this magical and legendary place was the great Latin poet Virgil; in the sixth book of the Aeneid the author tells of the meeting of Aeneas and the Sibyl and the descent into hell that Virgil places in the nearby Lake of Avernus.

   

Taken in: Italy / Campania / Pozzuoli / Former Roman catholic diocese of Cuma (show map)

Taken on: September 28, 2022

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