The Catacombs of Naples Italy

 #Catacombs_Naples_Italy was originally built by the ancient Greeks constructing Neapolis  (Naples) which has served many purposes throughout time as you read in this blog

It costs around $15.00 US so well worth it, my only issue is the groups ( divided into whatever language your guide was providing ) were too large, so you could not hear most of the information plus they were rushing you through so they could start another tour

The underground was later used by the Romans as aqueducts to supply water as seen here with the rope pulley system for over 2300 years
Besides the water being raised to the surface the surrounding stones were used for construction of buildings plus the volcanic ash was mixed with seawater / lime to make a mortar

The catacombs of Naples is a subterranean network that spans for over 450kms (280 miles) & is 40 meters deep (130 feet)..... so a vast system

This part of the war museum pays homage ( in part ) to The Four Days of Naples
It was the uprising against the Nazi German occupation of the City that lasted for four days in September 1943 & just before the arrival of the Allied Forces

These tunnels served as a bomb shelter for the military & the citizens of Naples
From 1940-1943 there were over 200 Allied bombing raids that caused severe damage & unfortunately 20,000+ civilian deaths .....only the City of Milan had more bombing raids

At the sound of the siren the local citizens hurried to the tunnels & some actually lived here for around 50%  of their daily lives during the war.
You can see evidence of this with showers, toilets & childrens toys during these turbulent times
 But the positive was, it was estimated the catacombs saved over 200,000 people during the Second World War

The catacombs were reopened in 1969 by the Archbishop of Naples & modern excavations started in 1971 to reverse years of neglect plus to show the world the remarkable heritage of this area

The Romans connected all the caves with all these narrow tunnels to create water pressure & for their 180 km ( 125 miles) aqueduct system
The aqueduct was used for the next 2000 years until a cholera epidemic closed it in 1884

Today its just a claustrophobic sideways slide through part of our tour 😂 plus have your cellphone flashlight ready as sections do get dark
 

During the 1940s Naples had a shortage of metals (as everyone did during the War)
 so the people of Naples used the wells as public trash cans until the city decided to use the tunnels as a bomb shelter & thus cleaned up the catacombs

 

Part of the preparation of turning them into bomb shelters; 20 entrances were built & the other task was to close up over 14,000 wells so the explosive devices would not reach them underground

Heading  up to the 142 stairs & back to the surface when i notice an area that they have been growing strawberries & tomatoes (at what has to be 35 meters or 115 feet underground) & found out later it is an experiment by the local University

Moving forward; the Sotterranea ( underground) has been used for art exhibitions, theater performances & classic music concerts
But as we just witnessed it has served many other useful purposes of its long history in Naples