Tuff walls overlooking the sea outline an inlet of unusual beauty, between Bacoli and Monte di Procida. Torregaveta is a tiny hamlet full of salt.
The contour of Torregaveta, between Lake Fusaro and Vesuvius | Ph. Enrico Nocera
Its history is deeply linked to the urbanization of the Phlegraean Fields and to the development of public transport. Since 1883 it has been the terminus of the Cumana and Circumflegrea railways.
It was in that year that the Neapolitan Society for Railways decided to make this sea nook the point of connection between the mainland and the Phlegrean islands, with the port of Casamicciola in Ischia as the main destination. From Naples to the islands, in less than two hours. Thus the railway station and the wharf were built, where the ferries head out to sea dock.
Today, after almost 150 years, only the wharf survives, as the water is too shallow to accommodate the ever-increasing number of boats. The suggestion, however, remains unchanged.
Spread over the sea, the jetty looks towards Ischia | Ph. Enrico Nocera
The straight and thin wharf of Torregaveta, today a destination for fishermen from the Phlegraean area, points towards the horizon. On the tuff walls that surround it are the remains of the villa of Servilio Vatia, a Roman noble friend of Seneca, even if many of the finds are submerged due to the typical bradyseism of the place. It was the Roman writer and philosopher who commended his friend's choice of taking refuge here, in contemplation of this corner of the Mediterranean, away from the worries of public life in the capital of the Empire.
The yellow tuff of the Campi Flegrei where the villa of Servilius Vatia was | Ph. Enrico Nocera
The structures now submerged contain traces of tanks, which according to archaeologists were spaces for the breeding of fish and seafood. On the mainland, close to a famous restaurant that today covers almost the whole ancient area of the villa, are the remains of cisterns, exedras and canals. Some of the many wonders that witness the ancient passion of the Romans for these lands kissed by the sea.
A walk between the breeze and the salt | Ph. Enrico Nocera
Today Torregaveta is a small lively beach in summer, a favorite destination for many Neapolitan bathers, but it is in the rest of the year that perhaps this jetty reveals all its charm. While we are walking we find the people of the place and the fishermen with their long fishing rods, to act as figures in a natural setting that embraces the Phlegrean shores looking to Ischia and Procida.