12) Cappella Necropolis

12. Cappella Necropolis

Located along the road leading to Liternum, it features columbaria and decorated underground funerary monuments used by the families of the fleet's soldiers.

Along the ancient road connecting the military port of Misenum with the city of Cumae, there was a vast cemetery area now known as the Cappella Necropolis. This site is crucial for studying the social composition of the ancient population of the area, composed largely of fleet soldiers and their families. The necropolis is characterized by the presence of numerous "columbariums," collective funerary buildings with small niches in the walls designed to house the cinerary altars containing the ashes of the deceased.

Architecturally, the structures often feature stucco decorations and wall paintings that reflect the sober yet dignified taste of the military middle class. Some of the funerary monuments are hypogeal, meaning they were dug below ground level, ensuring exceptional preservation of their volumes. The density of burials indicates how densely populated the Misenum district was during the first two centuries of the Empire. Visiting this necropolis today means coming into direct contact with the names and stories of sailors from every corner of the Mediterranean (from Egypt to Thrace), who, after serving in the imperial fleet, chose to be buried in this volcanic soil. It is a place of silence and memory that serves as a link between the military area of ​​Bacoli and the colonial area of ​​Cumae.