Santa Maria Capua Vetere: Il Coliseo's little brother

Little could be found on the vast internet about this site, but between what photographs and descriptions I could find, I knew it was somewhere I wanted to visit. To begin with, it is the second largest amphitheater the Romans built, second only to the Colosseum. This structure is in considerable more disrepair, and overgrown with trees, vines, and weeds. But, what truly sets this structure apart are the  accessible lower reaches. You can go down into the underbelly of the structure, unaccompanied, and explore the passageways beneath what was once the arena floor. Provided you exercised the proper caution when you took the stairs


It was difficult to find an exact address, but Google's satellite images showed us the way, and likely parking in front. We reached the amphitheater without difficulty, and purchased tickets, asking also about the mithraeum that we understood to be part of the admission. Later, we were told. Visit the amphitheater first.

We descended down the hillside to the looming structure, and were met, and accompanied by two amicable stray dogs. They followed us into the amphitheater, around the few portions above ground that can be reached, then down the stairs beneath. The stairs that lead down are near to where one enters into the amphitheater. There was some construction going on here, which blocked our view, but we did eventually find the way down.

Beneath was like a movie set. Ancient columns of stone reached up from the stone floor and arched overhead. Green branches and vines hung down from above. In the dirt that had collected in ditches and corners grew thick brambles. A deep channel was carved into the stone, that led from the longest end to end, and out both sides, through dark passageways, that were gated off. Where these used to fill the structure with water for boat shows in the arena? Other, shallower channels led through the other halls, that curve around the exterior walls, and were lined with stalls for people and animals. Piles of carved stone lay here and there. Mysterious stairways, blocked by gates, curved up into the superstructure.

The dogs padded contentedly alongside us. When we ventured back the passageway leading out from the farther end of the amphitheatre, all the way to the gate, one of the dogs slipped under the bars and continued on, looking back, encouraging us to follow. But, though it would have been easy to pass through, we held back, never wanting to get into trouble in a country where we did not speak the language. Though it was not the sort of place you would ever want to leave, cool and dark and mystical, there came a point when we had seen all there was to see, and so we returned to the stairs up, this time accompanied by only 1 dog, as the other had never come back to us from the tunnel.

From there, we took a left, and wandered over to a small "museum" there. Just withing the entrance were life size wax sculptures of gladiators, fighting each other, and a rather questionable lion. At the push of a button, we were treated to a narrative in Italian, highlighting the various figures with colored lights, and punctuated with the sound effects of clashing metal and roaring crowds. Here there was also a model, showing the arena, half as it is today, half as it once was. In a side room was a collection of decorative pieces take from the site.

Returning to the ticket counter, we enquired about the Mithraeum. It was gesticulated that we were to follow a fellow in his car. He led us quickly into the heart of the little town, down a few winding narrow alleys, then parked and got out. We followed him to a wooden door which he unlocked, then down a dark and dank stairwell to the ancient place of worship.

From my understanding, Mithraism was a secretive, cultish religion. They venerated Mithras, a mystical bull slayer. This particular mithraeum was discovered quite by accident when some construction workers accidentally dug into it. While the constructed entrance is at the back of the temple, the point of discovery can still be seen as a roughly patched area on the right when facing the large mural of a man slaying a bull. While our guide did not speak English we did have a brief conversation of gestures and glances about how very old, sacred, and untouched this place was.

Finally, he led us to the surface, and returned to his car, leaving us to find our way to our next destination.

Short Springs

On the 30th of March, while the weather was cool

and overcast, we made our first visit to the Short Springs Natural Area. The trail is easy, and divided into several segments and loops which allows the hiker to easily to the entire trail, or gain access to just a few sections. On this occasion we hiked almost everything. Beginning the trail by heading left, we quickly reached the branching off point for the one section of the trail we did not do. Instead, we headed straight, which led us to a beautiful stream flowing through the forest. The area was cool and wet, and on some nearby rocks were were fascinated to find 5 separate types of moss growing intermingled in a small area. Moving on, we soon rejoined the main trail and beyond that reached the sudden descent of the trail at the falls.

In the perfectly flat bottomed area below was the short flower trail. As we worked our way down to that trail, we stopped to photograph some of the many flowers which were in bloom. When we finally reached the bottom we paused to identify a still blooming blood wart, when a gentleman who had been photographing introduced himself. Now, I am sorry to say I have already forgotten his name, but I have not forgotten that he told us he had worked on this wildflower book. He immediately established himself as our guide, and took us all around the trail, and off of it, to show us various trillium, Virginia blue bell, trout Lilly, blood wart, anemone, and many more. There really is a great deal of wonderful flowers to see here, even if you don't have your own personal guide.

Finally we bid our goodbyes, and we turned ourselves in the direction of the sound of falling water. Just around a bend in the creek, and across a few stones was the falls. Returning to the trail, we explored among the wild flowers some more, and discovered a tiny snail, on a stump newly gnawed by a beaver. Continuing on the trail we soon reached the point where it turned and looped back to the parking lot, but we decided to push further, along the back loop. Unfortunately, the falls at the end of this trail turned out to be completely dry despite the recent rain fall. The remainder of the walk back was less notable than the journey out, especially since the trees have not yet begun to have leaves. Remarkably, we saw no animals in the area, save some roosting vultures. All in all, it is a very nice trail, with interesting water features and flowers, all along an easy path.