Castel dell'Ovo: remains of an ancient Greek port emerge

The site is linked above all to the legend of the mermaid Parthenope, generating goddess of Naples: according to tradition, even before the founding of Neapolis, the mermaid's body — who let herself die after being rejected by Ulysses — was carried here by the currents and remained buried here.

by Silvia Semonella

Castel dell'Ovo (Egg Castle) stands on the famous little island of Megaride, once separated from the mainland but today one with it.

In truth, however, this is not the only legend the island is at the heart of: one of the most famous features Lucius Licinius Lucullus, a mighty warrior of the Roman imperial age, who built on the island — home to the Nereids and the Dryads — what until late Roman times was known as the Castrum Lucullanum: the fortified villa of Megaride. The building housed wonderful libraries, moray eel breeding pools, and orchards of cherry trees brought from Persia and Cerasunta (an ancient Greek colony on the Black Sea from which the Neapolitan word “cerasa” [cherry] derives): Lucullus personally designed gardens and lawns and drove the gods from the dwelling, appropriating it entirely for himself. Banquets, bacchanals and spectacles were held there, but the most important event was the arrival of the wonderful sister of Cato, Lucullus's wife, Servilia, whose beauty astonished everyone, even the gods.

As Matilde Serao recounts in her “Leggende Napoletane” (Neapolitan Legends), Servilia began comparing herself to the various goddesses, going so far as to claim she surpassed even Venus in beauty. All this was overheard by the ocean nymphs and by Poseidon, who decided to punish her by condemning Megaride to erosion and to eventual disappearance.

It is precisely on the seabed of the legendary little island, exactly on the right-hand side of the castle, that in mid-March an ancient Greek port was discovered, dating back some 25 centuries.

Archaeologists from the self-funded project “Sea Research Neapolis” have discovered four submerged tunnels, a three-metre-wide road furrowed by carts, and a long trench for soldiers, who would have protected the landing place.

«This is a discovery that opens up a new scenario for the reconstruction of the old structure of Palepolis» explained Mario Negri, the Neapolitan archaeologist who made the discovery. In May, underwater research resumed, opening up new possibilities from a tourism perspective too. «We'll need to dig — he added — searching for artefacts, even though the seabed is disturbed because it lies in a heavily built-up area; we also hope to find datable objects. Let's remember, though, that we're still very much in the realm of hypothesis».