The Solfatara
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Born about 4000 years ago and situated almost in the middle of the Phlegraean Fields, the Solfatara (whose name comes from the late Latin Sulpha Terra – land of sulphur) is a volcano more recent than the ones of Agnano and Astroni. Its fumarolic manifestations, the cyclic deformation of the soil and the seismic shakes are the suggestive aspect of its active volcanism.
The points of main interest are:
The bubbling mud pit (Fangaia):
A bubbling pond of mud fenced by an iron net. The temperature of the mud oscillates between 170 and 250 degrees. The sulphur air is very strong
The big mouth (La bocca grande):
The most important fumarola of Solfatara.
The romans defined it "The house of the god of fire" and the smell of the gas can be intolerable and disgusting.
The Old Well (Il vecchio pozzo):
A cylindrical stone structure built at the beginning of the century IX. Its function was to extract minerals from the water at a profundity of 10 meters
The sulphuric water is known to be miraculous for the treatment of many diseases
The ancient saunas (Le vecchie stufe):
Two big caves wad used as saunas at the beginning of the Century IX. The original purpose, in fact, was to build a couple of natural saunas able to take advantage of the natural exhalations.
The complete article on Solfatara (included high-res pictures) can be available upon detailed request.
