| Huge
cave-ins and sink holes are not uncommon in Naples. Unregulated
development by speculators and lack of engineering code enforcement
increased the problem, as seen below with evidence of tunnels into
huge caverns and ancient tufo quarries. |
Here
we are looking up through a 'pozzo' or well shaft which descends more
than 150 feet into an ancient void which was turned into a cistern fed
with water through a diversionary tunnel connected to the old Bolla aqueduct.
These old well shafts are used by modern speologists to enter Naples'
underground or 'sottosuolo' |
| Again,
an example of the yellow tufo volcanic sandstone having been quarried
into a solid wall hundreds of feet underground. It is interconnected to
other huge caverns. This one was used as an air
raid shelter during WWII. Millions of cubic meters of hidden
cavities have yet to be discovered. |
This
bizarre scene is about 100 feet underground and is an old cavern used to
impound vehicles. During construction of the city's 'tangentiale' or
expressway, engineers detected a void from test drilling above and
decided to pump cement in to fill it in . . they had no idea what was
below and these cars are forever cast in concrete! |
