Napoli, l'Ipogeo dei Cristallini diventa visitabile. Visita guidata (LIVE) con prof. Carlo Rescigno

The Hypogeum of the Crystals is one of Naples' hidden wonders. Precious Hellenistic tombs carved into the tuff rock once opened onto the valleys leading from the northern walls of Neapolis, which correspond to the present-day Porta San Gennaro. They are a rare testimony to the city's existence between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC (the chronology is still open). They did not actually originate as "hypogea," meaning underground, but began to open at the level of what was then a road or path leading up to the present-day Capodimonte hill. Continuous erosion by watercourses flowing toward the Hellenistic walls then, over the centuries, brought thousands of cubic meters of debris from the so-called "cold lava of the Virgins," upon which much of the Sanità district now stands. One of the Crystalline Tombs, now open to the public (from July 1, 2022, info at https://ipogeodeicristallini.org/, cost €25 with limited entry) is richly decorated, with vivid colors that complement the fake architecture, an initial structural decoration that would later develop into something well known, for example, in Pompeii. The entire project recreates an atmosphere of libations and celebrations, honoring the deceased of the elite who governed the city. The excavations by the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (Professor Carlo Rescigno) and the restoration, all under the direction of the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Naples, are aimed at acquiring important scientific evidence to interpret not only this site but the entire context of hypogea that characterizes the Sanità district.