ItalyTraveller experience.

Naples is a city which exists on two levels, one above, and one beneath the surface. The city lies on partly hydrovolcanic, fine grained tuff, a light rock which is extremely easy to excavate and an important source of building material. The Greeks were the first to exploit the qualities of tuff in 800 B.C, digging beneath their ancient "Neapolis", in order to construct an aqueduct linked to a series of cisterns via a web of tunnels. The Romans were responsible for the creation of a veritable "underground city", complete with cemeteries and temples. In the centuries which followed, and as the population of Naples grew, an incredible number of wells and cisterns were built beneath the city. Many of Naples' palazzi were erected above these sites, constructed using the deposits of tuff which had been produced during excavation.

Today, the LAES, Libera Associazione Escursionisti Sotterranei (www.lanapolisotterranea.it) organises visits to underground Naples, which commence beneath the Quartieri Spagnoli, in Vico S.Anna di Palazzo 52. From here, visitors descend some 40 meters to a large 3200sqm cavern, used during the second world war as bomb shelter, and then on to the ancient aqueduct of Carmignano, walking past the cisterns constructed by the Greeks and through a labyrinth of tunnels once connected to more than 4000 wells. Visitors are led beneath churches and palazzi, to the remains of an ancient Roman theatre, said to have been the favourite playhouse of Nero. The guides describe how, in the past, every household accessed the water stored in the cisterns by way of domestic wells to which only the "pozzari", or well keepers, had access.

This year, during the 2009 Maggio dei Monumenti festival, the council of Naples plans to open the Borbonica Sotterranea to the public. This underground tunnel, initiated in 1853 by Royal Decree, was designed to link Piazza Plebescito with the area of Chiaia, thus providing a quick escape route for the members of Bourbon dynasty and rapid point of access for troops arriving to protect the royal residences.

An interesting account of Naples underground is offered by Fabula Vergiliana (www.fabulavergiliana.it). This cultural organisation holds a series of readings by the narrators of Mani e Vulcani, performed underground beneath the Complesso Monumentale of San Lorenzo Maggiore. Visitors are conducted by the light of oil lamps, through the bowels of a mysterious and enchanted Naples, listening to the tales of such legendary characters as Virgilio Mago: associated with the myths of the foundation of Naples (as narrated in the Cronaca di Partenope, a 14th century text conserved in the National Library), and thought to be responsible for the surprising absence of snakes and other dangerous reptiles in underground Naples.

Rome possesses, with all probability, the world's greatest number of underground sites, the construction of which is linked to the history and culture of the Italian Capital's rich past and the excavation of which was facilitated by the fact that the Seven Hills of Rome are geologically part of an eroded tuff plateau. During the construction of the city's magnificent imperial palaces, temples and public edifices, the excavation of the tuff resulted in a series of underground caverns being created, to which, over time, a whole network of wells, drains, and catacombs were added. Earthquakes, flooding of the Tiber river, and the steady accumulation of waste materials, resulted in the city rising meters above its original ground level and, in the process, any number of villas and temples were buried underground.

The Sotterranei di Roma association (www.sotterraneidiroma.it) was founded to promote interest in the history of underground Rome and, at the same time, safeguard the archaeological and artistic treasures hidden here. Each month, the association organises a series of guided tours of this "secret Rome", exploring sites such as the mosaic-adorned Vatican Necropolis, which corresponds with the central nave of St Peter's Basilica, or the old Roman houses beneath the Basilica of S.S Giovanni and Paolo.

Another important site is the Circo Agonale, built for the athletic games of 86 B.C., part of which can be visited beneath Piazza Navona. A visit to the sepulchre of the Roman villa of the Equinozi, is very interesting and includes the opportunity to savour a typical Roman feast, sampling dishes which have been cooked using the ancient recipes of Catone and Apicio.