Lake Avernus

The Lago d' Averno is situated in the western part of the town of Pozzuoli, west of Naples, and is part of the Phlegraean Fields. Its name, which comes from the Greek ἄορνος, means something like " lake without birds ", suggesting toxic volcanic fumes that once bubbled from the lake. In mythology, particularly the Aeneid of Virgil, the lake is an entrance to the underworld.

The Lago d' Averno originally had a natural connection to the sea and was used as a part of Portus Julius, the central naval port of the Roman Empire. From the lake led the Grotta di Cocceio, an artificial, around one kilometer long tunnel, at Cumae. He served the connection of the city with the naval port. He was usable until 1940 and was only destroyed in the Second World War. The last volcanic eruption in the Campi Flegrei anno 1538 in the immediate vicinity of the lake was filled in the connection to the sea, remained a circular Maar - the lake in its present form. In this outbreak, which lasted ten days was also the Monte Nuovo.

The lakefront was built in Roman times with villas, vineyards around them were created. A temple of Apollo is preserved in ruins. In the 18th and 19th centuries lake and ruins were a popular motif of romantic landscape painting.

The lake was privately owned and owned by a company which operates a country club on its shore. The company was bought in 2008 by an entrepreneur who stands to organized crime, on suspicion of belonging. His assets, including the Company and the lake was drafted by the Italian state with a court order in 2010.