Flavian Amphitheatre, Pozzuoli

Naples · Italy · Ruin

The beasts refused to tear Gennaro apart. Legend says they lay down at his feet, and the sentence had to be rewritten.

Italy's third-largest Roman amphitheatre has the best preserved underworks of any: the whole system of shafts and hoists that cranked the cages up to the arena floor stands intact, bay after brick bay. In the year 305 Gennaro, bishop of Benevento, is said to have been brought here with Festus, Desiderius and Sossius and condemned to be torn apart by the beasts. Legend holds that when the animals were released they lay down at his feet and refused to touch him, and that the authorities then changed the sentence to beheading up by the Solfatara. A chapel in the underworks marks the spot. When the plague procession of 1656 carried the saint's bust here, a yellowed stain is said to have spread on its neck and taken the shape of a plague bubo just as the procession reached the amphitheatre.

FAQ

Where is Flavian Amphitheatre, Pozzuoli located?

Flavian Amphitheatre, Pozzuoli is in Neapel, Italy.

More haunted places in Neapel

Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.