0:00:02 > 0:00:04Italy. I just love this country.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06The people, the places,
0:00:06 > 0:00:10a history that reaches back over 2,500 years.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13From the birth of the Roman Empire
0:00:13 > 0:00:15through the glories of the Middle Ages
0:00:15 > 0:00:17to the flowering of the Renaissance,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20its achievements are just breathtaking.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24But behind its glorious facades,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26so much of that invention and creativity
0:00:26 > 0:00:28still remains invisible.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29Look at that!
0:00:29 > 0:00:32I'm exploring three of my favourite Italian cities
0:00:32 > 0:00:35to discover how their hidden treasures
0:00:35 > 0:00:39played their part in the making of Italy and of Western civilisation.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41I'll be working with historian Dr Michael Scott
0:00:41 > 0:00:45to uncover the invisible layers of Italy's past,
0:00:45 > 0:00:49in Venice, in Florence and in Naples.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51You've got Nero murdering his mum.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Using the latest 3D scanning technology,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59we'll reveal the secrets of how these cities made Italy
0:00:59 > 0:01:02a powerhouse of the Western world.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05We're starting our journey in Naples...
0:01:06 > 0:01:08..where beauty and danger collide.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14We'll be descending into time-travelling tunnels,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18lost cities and ancient underworlds.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It's like we're walking through a giant's armpit!
0:01:21 > 0:01:23We'll explore the living, ever-present threat
0:01:23 > 0:01:25of Mount Vesuvius.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30The brain down there boils, blows the skull apart.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34But the volcano has also nurtured a thriving network of
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Roman cities and seaside resorts.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Oh, look at this!
0:01:38 > 0:01:40The scandalous pleasure palaces of their day.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42It's all about sex.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44It's a crime against love.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46For the very first time,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50our scanners will create a 3D model of the region
0:01:50 > 0:01:54and I'll use virtual reality to get inside the scan.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Oh, I can see! It's completely 3D.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59We're dusting all the sand away.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02You can't miss this!
0:02:05 > 0:02:09This is Italy as you have never seen it before.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Welcome to Italy's Invisible Cities.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29My journey to reveal the secrets of Italy begins
0:02:29 > 0:02:34on the way to the Bay of Naples, home to the brooding Mount Vesuvius.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Well, this is a way to start an Italian exploration, isn't it?
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Right here in the dramatic landscape of the Amalfi coast.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Swooping around these fairly treacherous roads,
0:02:45 > 0:02:46with a peloton of cyclists.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53First time I've been here since our honeymoon.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Not our honeymoon, you understand. But the one with my wife.
0:02:56 > 0:02:57Well, this is the country to come to.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59And although we're going to be exploring
0:02:59 > 0:03:02some of the most well-known cities in this landscape,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04what we're going to be doing is getting under their skin
0:03:04 > 0:03:06and revealing their hidden secrets.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13We're going to be finding out how they've lived life on the edge
0:03:13 > 0:03:15between beauty and danger.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19I love you talking about beauty and danger
0:03:19 > 0:03:22as we hurtle round these corners and I'm thinking,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24"Oh, this is beauty and danger, isn't it?"
0:03:26 > 0:03:30The motto of this place is carpe diem, seize the day.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Well, let's seize it with both hands, shall we?
0:03:32 > 0:03:33We're going to be doing just that.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40Wow!
0:03:43 > 0:03:45THUNDER CRACKS AND BELL TOLLS
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Look at this dramatic weather that's closing in on us here.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53But that is as nothing compared to the drama of
0:03:53 > 0:03:56the last 2,500 years of history that we're going to be uncovering
0:03:56 > 0:03:59just over there in the Bay of Naples. I can't wait.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Dominated by Mount Vesuvius,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11the bay is today home to a patchwork of towns and cities...
0:04:12 > 0:04:15..the most famous of which is Naples itself.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19One of the oldest cities in the world,
0:04:19 > 0:04:24it's been occupied across 2,500 years by the Greeks, Romans,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Goths, Byzantines, Normans
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and one of Europe's most powerful dynasties, the Bourbons.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32And that's just before lunch.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Today, it's a sprawling metropolis of nearly four million people.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43Noisy, frenetic and exuberant, it lives its life on the street.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48But there's another, invisible side to Naples,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and Michael's taking me to a less glamorous suburb
0:04:51 > 0:04:54to uncover one of its secrets from only 400 years ago.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59If you want to really discover invisible Naples, well,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01they're's only one place to go.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03- And that's... - I'm guessing it's underground.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05It's underground, yeah, absolutely.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09A portal here to a taster of what is to come.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12But this one is special because it's only just been discovered.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13Oh, really?
0:05:13 > 0:05:17'That discovery was made when a mysterious shaft was uncovered
0:05:17 > 0:05:20'in this humble farmyard in 2014.'
0:05:20 > 0:05:23So, when they were looking around, they immediately came to this.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28And if you have a good look down, you start to get a sense of it.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Hold my feet, won't you?
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Whoa! Oh, Lord!
0:05:35 > 0:05:37That's most terrifying thing.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Oh! That's just miles down.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41About 45 metres down, Xander.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43How are we getting down there?
0:05:43 > 0:05:45The good thing is, there is another way down.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Oh, you beauty!
0:05:47 > 0:05:50We might still need some help to get down there.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53'And that help comes in the form of the Naples Fire Brigade...'
0:05:53 > 0:05:56THEY GREET EACH OTHER IN ITALIAN
0:05:56 > 0:05:58- Good morning.- Alexander...
0:05:58 > 0:06:00'..almost all of them.'
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Ciao!
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Sinkholes are swallowing up Naples with alarming regularity,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10so the city has its own Department of the Underground,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14and every time a new hole emerges, the call in the Fire Brigade.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18I'm intrigued and... And not a little worried.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Why are there 20 of them?
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Well, we wanted to be safe.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30When the Fire Brigade first abseiled down the shaft to investigate,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33they discovered another entrance at the bottom of this ravine.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Now, all we have to do is break into it again.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40So, all of this path we've been walking down,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42descended into jungle, slightly.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43We're almost there.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45Oh, whoa! OK.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51And here we are!
0:06:51 > 0:06:53HE LAUGHS
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Look at that!
0:06:56 > 0:06:59I mean, look at that. Look at that bridge across there.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01This was only discovered, though, about two years ago.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04This is a man-made quarry.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06It's like some jaws of a shark or something, isn't it?
0:07:06 > 0:07:10This place has been hacked out by hand by workers
0:07:10 > 0:07:13over hundreds of years, beginning in the Renaissance.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15What the miners of this quarry were after
0:07:15 > 0:07:21was the volcanic rock here known as tufo, laid down 15,000 years ago.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24It's some of the best quality building stone in Italy
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and it's all thanks to the surrounding volcanoes.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30This tufo came from this single eruption,
0:07:30 > 0:07:32which means its consistency is so much better.
0:07:32 > 0:07:38It's harder, tougher and, at the same time, easier to carve.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40It's astounding, isn't it?
0:07:40 > 0:07:42- The scale of it. - It's cathedral-like, isn't it?
0:07:42 > 0:07:44It is.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49In the 17th century, these galleries would have been filled with miners,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53hoisting building stone to the surface through the shafts above.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Xander, look at this. A stairway to heaven.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00All the way to the top.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04- Look at that.- Probably about 50 metres above us right now.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07- You would not want to look down. - No, you absolutely wouldn't.
0:08:07 > 0:08:08Right. Do you want to have a go?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Hold that. Yes. Let's see how far we get up here.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15'I'm not so sure how far I want to take this.'
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Each of these are like little rock pools, isn't it?
0:08:17 > 0:08:19I know, amazing, aren't they?
0:08:19 > 0:08:21There aren't many stones that you would trust.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28What an introduction this has been to Naples.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33'Michael's meeting our scanning team
0:08:33 > 0:08:36'to see how they're going to create the most comprehensive
0:08:36 > 0:08:39'3D scans of Naples ever produced.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44'This quarry is already pushing their technology to its limits.'
0:08:45 > 0:08:47What's going to be the big challenge for you?
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Well, it's just monumental in here.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52So, we've got different techniques
0:08:52 > 0:08:54to kind of get round some of those problems.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56What we're using has only been released in the last kind of year.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00'And in a first for our team, they'll even be scanning underwater
0:09:00 > 0:09:05'to help create some of the most accurate 3D maps of Naples ever.'
0:09:05 > 0:09:08We're going to be able to fly in through the bay, underwater,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11up through the coast over Herculaneum,
0:09:11 > 0:09:12deep underground and around Naples.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15So it's all being tied together as one seamless map.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20The scans are already working their magic.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23The scale of the quarry is so breathtaking,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25it really needs them to make sense of it.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30As we break through the floor,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33we can really see how enormous this complex is.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36It's like an Alice in Wonderland warren for giant rabbits.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40In the 17th century,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43it provided the building blocks for modern Naples.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Only Paris was larger back then.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49If this is a taster of what we can expect to see in Naples,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52then this is going to be absolutely phenomenal.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08To continue our quest, Michael has brought me to the heart of the city.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10We aren't starting as you might expect with the Romans,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14but with the dynasty that ruled here until 150 years ago,
0:10:14 > 0:10:15the Bourbons.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Nice to get a little sniff underground there, Michael.
0:10:19 > 0:10:20I see you've brought me back above ground.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- Well, it was an amuse bouche, if you like.- OK.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24For what we're going to explore.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27But I brought you here because this is Piazza del Plebiscito.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31It's the largest public square in Naples.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33And it was built by the monarchs
0:10:33 > 0:10:36that ruled this place for over 700 years.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40Michael is introducing me to one of those monarchs.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43This guy is Ferdinand the Big Nose.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45Your archetypal wannabe Roman Emperor,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- but from the 18th, 19th centuries. - I see.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51One of the Bourbons who ruled much of Europe,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Ferdinand became the King of Naples
0:10:54 > 0:10:58just as his cousins lost their heads in the French Revolution of 1793.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02And old Big Nose himself looked to be heading in the same direction.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Naples was known for corruption...
0:11:08 > 0:11:11- ..violence...- Yeah. - ..and prostitution.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14I mean, you've heard the phrase, "See Naples and die."
0:11:14 > 0:11:16- Yes.- So, that comes from when Naples was
0:11:16 > 0:11:19the final stop on the grand tour, the English aristocracy,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22here to see all the archaeological sites
0:11:22 > 0:11:25- and get syphilis from the prostitutes.- Oh, I see, that's nice.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27- So, buy all the art and then... - See Naples and die!
0:11:27 > 0:11:29..take something extra. Something for the weekend.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Now, I'm sure what this guy wished he'd had
0:11:31 > 0:11:34is what his successors went on to build,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36which was a whole set of escape tunnels
0:11:36 > 0:11:40underground from their Royal Palace in case things got too bad.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42It does smack of a dynasty
0:11:42 > 0:11:45that's taking a very long-term view of its position.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Well, the great thing about these tunnels is they connect into
0:11:48 > 0:11:50a whole underground world that dates back to the very earliest
0:11:50 > 0:11:53eras of Naples' history. So, this is not just a tunnel,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56this is a time-travelling tunnel.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08I'd been aware that Naples and Neapolitans,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11an expression which generally was considered something rather fruity,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15but I hadn't realised it was such a celebrated part of Naples' history.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18"See Naples and die."
0:12:18 > 0:12:21But these time tunnels, they sound very exciting indeed.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26'Now all we have to do is find a way in.'
0:12:31 > 0:12:33'Hmmm. Let's hope it's not there.'
0:12:35 > 0:12:37We're looking for a vet's surgery.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41It should be somewhere...here.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43- Is it a hole in the ground? - We're looking for an entrance.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I'm hoping this door might be...
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Ciao? C'e qualcuno?
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- Hello.- Ciao!- I am Gianluca. Welcome.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- Alexander.- Hi, hi, hi.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55Come inside...
0:12:55 > 0:12:59'Geologist Dr Gianluca Minin was the first to open up
0:12:59 > 0:13:01'a huge section of the tunnels,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04'blocked when they were used as a rubbish dump after World War II.'
0:13:04 > 0:13:06What, you exposed all of this?
0:13:06 > 0:13:10We needed six months, three people every day
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- to clean everything here. - I suppose you couldn't guarantee
0:13:13 > 0:13:15- you weren't going to find something grisly.- Yeah.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20'Here we go. Down the rabbit hole.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30'These steps descend 23 metres from the surface.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33'It feels like a journey to the centre of the Earth.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36'I'm not enormously fond of small spaces,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38'so let's hope it doesn't get any tighter.'
0:13:40 > 0:13:41Wow!
0:13:43 > 0:13:45- I mean, look at this! - We are in the Bourbon tunnel now.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Ferdinand II was very worried.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54And in 1853, decided to dig a tunnel
0:13:54 > 0:13:58to connect the Royal Palace with the barracks outside,
0:13:58 > 0:13:59very close to the sea.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03And why is this so enormous if this is an escape tunnel?
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Because we have a lot of layers of history here.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Not only the Bourbon time, but something before.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14'What came before were the quarries used to mine the volcanic tufo
0:14:14 > 0:14:18'that built Naples. All the Bourbon tunnellers had to do
0:14:18 > 0:14:21'was join the ancient quarries together.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25'Its uses didn't end there.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29'After World War II, it was even a dump for abandoned vehicles.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31'But it's also a time machine,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34'taking us through Naples' 2,500-year history.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38'Our scanning team are beginning the task of
0:14:38 > 0:14:40'making sense of this labyrinth,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42'whilst we go through another time portal
0:14:42 > 0:14:44'to earlier in the 20th century.'
0:14:49 > 0:14:50Hey guys, come with me,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53I want to show you something from the World War II.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55A bomb shelter.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00'Naples was the most bombed Italian city in the Second World War.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05'It's estimated that Allied raids killed more than 20,000 people.'
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Look there.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08We have found the beds.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10- XANDER GASPS - The original.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11And the toys for children.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13- Oh!- Look.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Come with me.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17You can read. "Allarme.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19"26 April, '43."
0:15:21 > 0:15:22And here,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26"Noi vivi". "We are still alive."
0:15:28 > 0:15:32Because it was better to stay here than outside under the bombing.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Nearly 200km of tunnels were cleared
0:15:38 > 0:15:40and electricity cables laid
0:15:40 > 0:15:43to cater for the hundreds of thousands of Neapolitans
0:15:43 > 0:15:46forced to shelter from Allied bombing.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48But life went on.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Alexander, look.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54- Green colour.- Look at that!
0:15:54 > 0:15:56It's oil floating on top.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Yeah. 70 years old.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00I can open...
0:16:02 > 0:16:03..and, please, smell.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06HE GASPS
0:16:06 > 0:16:09- It's hair tonic, is it? - Yeah.
0:16:09 > 0:16:10Hasn't lost any of its potency, has it?
0:16:10 > 0:16:14It was very important for the person who took with him.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Yeah, to bring it down.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Maybe he had a fancy lady down here.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22Yes, many people fell in love underground.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Don't forget, we are a romantic people.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26You're absolutely right.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33It's quite tempting to think of this as
0:16:33 > 0:16:37a rather sombre and poignant scene, but I don't really feel that.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39I think the emphasis is on the "Noi vivi",
0:16:39 > 0:16:42rather than the "Allarme".
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Tremendous triumph of human spirit.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00This labyrinth has given me a new perspective on Neapolitans.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Tough like their tufo.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Resourceful as well as romantic.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16'Our final destination in the Bourbon tunnel complex
0:17:16 > 0:17:19'moves us forward another 45 years
0:17:19 > 0:17:21'and connects Naples' most ancient history
0:17:21 > 0:17:23'with its most recent.'
0:17:24 > 0:17:30So, welcome to the never-quite-finished metro line.
0:17:30 > 0:17:31Started in 1990...
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Oh, right, for...yes, Italia '90.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36..and abandoned in 1994.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37But why was it abandoned?
0:17:37 > 0:17:42It ended up being such a mismanaged and corrupt project
0:17:42 > 0:17:45that they just decided to...
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Naples just hasn't changed at all, then.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Look at this! A ghost station.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55We are below...
0:17:56 > 0:17:58..where we started this morning.
0:18:00 > 0:18:01No! What? Under the Piazza...
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Piazza del Plebiscito is directly above.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Oh, it would have been lovely.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10There it is. It's just the end of the line right there.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Yeah, just a solid wall.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14But what I love about being down here is,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16it's such a time-travelling experience.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19We're in the 20th century here, but we've been in the 19th century.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21We can go back all the way to the Romans.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23When they were building one of the metro lines,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27they cut across the Roman aqueduct for this area.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29The Aqua Augusta.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32It is one of the longest Roman aqueducts in the world,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34right here, feeding the whole Bay of Naples.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39And even before that, you can find the Greeks here because this was...
0:18:39 > 0:18:42- Neapolis.- ..originally, a Greek colony of the fifth century BC.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47So, this really does have 2,500 years of history
0:18:47 > 0:18:50right here underground in these tunnels.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53All crisscrossing right underneath Naples.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58It's fascinating inside the tunnels,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01but I'm keen to make sense of it all.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Matt from our scanning team has put together
0:19:03 > 0:19:06- the first scans of our 3-D model of the bay.- Good to see you.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Are you well?
0:19:08 > 0:19:10So excited about this, yes.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13We are going to start off at Piazza Plebiscito.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15In all of its glory.
0:19:17 > 0:19:18That is beautiful.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22If you could reproduce that on a canvas, I'd buy that.
0:19:22 > 0:19:23I think it's beautiful!
0:19:23 > 0:19:26The real purpose for being here is to take you
0:19:26 > 0:19:28to this little alleyway over the side.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30This was our little vet's shop.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Yeah, I mean, there's a whole new world.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38From this tiny little entrance here, suddenly you're in an enormous,
0:19:38 > 0:19:39enormous series of spaces.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41I mean, thousands and thousands of individual chambers
0:19:41 > 0:19:44- all connected together.- Wow.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47These individual chambers which would have been quarried out
0:19:47 > 0:19:49- for their raw material...- Right.
0:19:49 > 0:19:50They then become a cistern,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54and aquifer storing water for the properties above.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56And then we have these much straighter tunnels
0:19:56 > 0:19:59connecting them together. And that's the Bourbons coming in
0:19:59 > 0:20:03and joining all of these ad hoc spaces together
0:20:03 > 0:20:05into a complete network. You know, there's areas here
0:20:05 > 0:20:08where there can't be anything holding the city up.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10It's just the most baffling thing to discover.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13You've got to do this sort of mad portal
0:20:13 > 0:20:16into a whole splat of history.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20And the maddest splat for me was the modern Metro,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22destroying the ancient Roman aqueduct.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- There it is, look.- It looks like an exhaust pipe, doesn't it?
0:20:25 > 0:20:27But that's our station.
0:20:28 > 0:20:29Starting from here,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Matt has been uncovering the full extent
0:20:32 > 0:20:34of the Roman aqueduct network.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36The aqueducts span right the way from Plebiscito,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39right out to the peripheries of the city
0:20:39 > 0:20:41and they burst out above ground in the suburbs.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43This is the Aqua Augusta.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Still very romantic somehow.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Just the idea of something tunnelling and then
0:20:48 > 0:20:52suddenly appearing for a little short stretch above ground.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54So there's just this incredibly extensive network
0:20:54 > 0:20:56of underground spaces there.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Using their scans and researching old maps,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04our team is building up a picture of the whole of Naples' underground.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Nearly 200km of aqueducts and their branches
0:21:08 > 0:21:11inside the city alone.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Eight million cubic metres of rock from hundreds
0:21:14 > 0:21:16of underground quarries
0:21:16 > 0:21:18converted into household water cisterns.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24All revealing how Naples' volcanic roots nurtured the city.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Surely, time for lunch?
0:21:36 > 0:21:38But nowhere's safe from Vesuvius,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42even when you're tucking into a Neapolitan food icon.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46So, Xander, this isn't your first Naples pizza, though, I'm presuming.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- Do you know? I think it is. - Really?- Mmm.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51I mean, it's delicious.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53But it's the tomato.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55- It's the tomato. - Incredibly sweet.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57And it's a special tomato.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00- Is it? - The San Marzano plum tomato.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Grown in the volcanic soil which is abundant in this area.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Of course. Which is just full of minerals and full of...
0:22:07 > 0:22:08So, they taste amazing.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12So, the trade-off is you live under constant threat of eruption.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16And, yes, you might all die in hot ash,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19but for as long as you don't, you have centuries of great pizza.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21You get great pizza and great tomato.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23I mean, there's something about Naples, isn't there?
0:22:23 > 0:22:25- And probably good wine, too. Sorry to interrupt.- And good wine.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27This is from the area as well.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Growing in that fantastic volcanic soil.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35But implicit in Naples is this sense of beauty and danger combined.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36And Vesuvius is exactly that.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39You know, there's the danger, but here's the beauty.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46And for me, nothing epitomises beauty and danger
0:22:46 > 0:22:48more than a scooter.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Oh, look at this! They're letting me back on a Vespa again.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Last time I rode one of these was in Rome. That was sort of fine.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54I could do Rome.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Naples, I think, might be a slightly more tricky prospect.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00But it'll be fine. What did your man say?
0:23:00 > 0:23:01"Beauty and danger."
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Here goes.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11I'm off to explore the perils of living next to an active volcano.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17I'm hurtling towards the town of Herculaneum.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21It sits even closer to the ever-threatening Vesuvius.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31And the volcano's exactly where Michael's heading,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35to explore the source of Naples' wealth and its woes.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40Roberto Adeo is guiding Michael to the business end of the volcano.
0:23:40 > 0:23:41Slowly, slowly here.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45So, you drive on the edge of the volcano.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49From here you feel like Gods looking down on the world.
0:23:49 > 0:23:50One more? Oh!
0:23:50 > 0:23:54- Here we are.- And on your left, the Vesuvius Crater.
0:23:54 > 0:23:55Oh, my God!
0:23:55 > 0:24:01The crater rim towers nearly 1,300 metres over the suburbs below.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05We are exactly on the edge of the crater that was formed
0:24:05 > 0:24:07with the last eruption, 1944.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Before the eruption, it was almost full up to the edge.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15So, in a couple of weeks, everything was removed from inside.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Eruptions of Vesuvius are rare,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22but they are among the most violent in Europe.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26So, what makes this a particularly explosive volcano?
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Yeah, that's because... It's especially because
0:24:28 > 0:24:30of this long period of rest.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34Then it's like charging the energy for the next eruption,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36so the chimney's plugged.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Magma's very deep inside, but then when it comes up,
0:24:39 > 0:24:43after a long period of rest, normally it's with a big eruption.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48When magma in the chamber below can't escape, the molten rock cools.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51This causes bubbles to form and the magma to expand.
0:24:53 > 0:24:54Roberto is going to demonstrate
0:24:54 > 0:24:57just how explosive this ultimately can be.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00I have Coca-Cola.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02I have a drill.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04I have Mentos...
0:25:04 > 0:25:06The Coke represents the magma.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09The mints, the effect of the bubbles
0:25:09 > 0:25:11and the rapid change in pressure
0:25:11 > 0:25:13once the magma breaches the surface.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14One...
0:25:15 > 0:25:16..Two...
0:25:16 > 0:25:17- Three.- ..Three.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22- Whoohoo! - HE LAUGHS
0:25:22 > 0:25:23Amazing!
0:25:31 > 0:25:35This area is such a hotbed of hidden volcanic activity,
0:25:35 > 0:25:37it holds a secret.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41Vesuvius isn't the biggest volcano in the Bay of Naples.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43You got the different chambers.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Campi Flegrei, which is close to the surface.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- So, there are two magma chambers underneath this area.- Yeah.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55Campi Flegrei means burning fields.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59It's one of only 20 active supervolcanoes.
0:25:59 > 0:26:05Its last major eruption 15,000 years ago laid down all that tufo.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Campi Flegrei is much more dangerous,
0:26:10 > 0:26:12if possible, for the city of Naples.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16First of all, because the city is exactly above the volcano.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21And that also because in the past, this volcano had huge eruptions.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28But it was another eruption from the much smaller Vesuvius in AD 79
0:26:28 > 0:26:30that has defined our understanding
0:26:30 > 0:26:33of the destructive power of volcanoes.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Vesuvius at that time was very, very quiet.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39It had been quiet for 800 years.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41So, they lost memories.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46- Nobody knew.- So, when it erupted in 79 AD, it was a complete shock.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51We all know what happened to Pompeii,
0:26:51 > 0:26:55but the people closest to Vesuvius were the citizens of Herculaneum,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57just 6km below.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05No-one knows more about their fate than
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill,
0:27:07 > 0:27:11who's been studying the site for the last 30 years.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14You have do imagine everything in dark, of course.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18Because for 12 hours, the eruption's been happening.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22- Yes.- And the odd thing is, nothing happens here.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27Because the wind is blowing in the wrong direction for Herculaneum.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29And we found no bodies.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32No skeletons here in the main bit of the city.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Because they saw... They saw the warning and...
0:27:34 > 0:27:36- They ran.- They weren't here.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41That's for sure. And then, at about midnight,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45this eruptive column collapses and you get pyroclastic surges.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50You get great, billowing clouds of piping hot gas
0:27:50 > 0:27:54and ash come cascading down the mountainside
0:27:54 > 0:27:58and very, very rapidly cover up this city.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00To a height that is way, way above
0:28:00 > 0:28:02the height at which Pompeii is covered.
0:28:02 > 0:28:08The depth is something like 20, even 30 metres, of solid rock.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14So, if Herculaneum was buried under 30 metres of volcanic tufo,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16how did it get to be discovered?
0:28:18 > 0:28:22As the scan team starts to create a millimetre-accurate
0:28:22 > 0:28:243D map of ancient Herculaneum,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Michael is joining us to explore this remarkable story
0:28:28 > 0:28:30in the town's best-kept secret.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Now, I've been promising Xander this is something special.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35- Yes.- People really don't get much of an opportunity.
0:28:35 > 0:28:36This is awesome. Down below here...
0:28:36 > 0:28:38- Yeah.- ..is the ancient theatre.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43Come down here and you see the real history of archaeology.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45This is where it all starts.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49300 years ago, treasure hunters were drawn here
0:28:49 > 0:28:53when perfectly preserved Roman statues were discovered
0:28:53 > 0:28:55during the digging of the town's wells.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58They found loads of statues.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01But it wasn't just statues they discovered.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04Right down at the bottom, you can see, that is the theatre.
0:29:04 > 0:29:05Wow. And that's it.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Right... You said there was a theatre here!
0:29:08 > 0:29:10And you look right down onto the auditorium. And I can see it.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12I can see the shape of the seats.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Come on, let's make our way down to Hades.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18It's another 20 metres down through the rock
0:29:18 > 0:29:21to reach the top of what was once an open-air theatre.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25We are up in the top level of the theatre.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28I'm guessing these are the restricted-view seats.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30Well, the view was a little better
0:29:30 > 0:29:33when there wasn't a million tonnes of rock in the way!
0:29:33 > 0:29:35Certainly the cheap seats up here, for sure.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39And here at last, this is where to sit.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43And there's a story that there was a performance in full flow
0:29:43 > 0:29:46- when the eruption happened. - That's right.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48You spent the whole day in the theatre,
0:29:48 > 0:29:50and if the eruption is at about midday,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53it's reasonable there should be people already in the theatre.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56This is a daylight, daylong festival
0:29:56 > 0:29:59where the audience are supposed to be noisy.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02The big people of town who have paid for the performance,
0:30:02 > 0:30:06they're very anxious to get good reactions from the audience.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08So, they'd be quite keen that come hell or high water,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10or indeed an eruption,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13everyone should pretty much stay in their seats, it'll be fine.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15They want people packed in.
0:30:15 > 0:30:16Bums on seats.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18It's a sign of political power.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24It's about the maddest thing in the world to try and understand
0:30:24 > 0:30:28something as open as this theatre and yet we reach it
0:30:28 > 0:30:31right at the bottom of this huge great tunnel.
0:30:31 > 0:30:3530 metres of volcanic ash on top of us.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40This place is so entombed, I'm wondering,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42can we even get to the stage?
0:30:43 > 0:30:45OK. Here are our steps.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49- You see how beautifully cut they are.- Beautiful.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52- So, here we are. At last. - Right down at the bottom.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54We have found the stage.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57And look at it, stretching right down there.
0:30:57 > 0:30:58Look at that!
0:31:00 > 0:31:02It's deep, deep, deep.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04- Look back here.- Back it goes there.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07So, if we come backstage here,
0:31:07 > 0:31:11there's a wonderful spooky treat to show you.
0:31:11 > 0:31:12Look at this.
0:31:12 > 0:31:13THEY GASP
0:31:13 > 0:31:16- Out of the ceiling.- No!
0:31:16 > 0:31:19That's not... That's not one of our actors, is it?
0:31:19 > 0:31:22No. That is the negative impression of a statue.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27Somehow, the statue from right over there
0:31:27 > 0:31:30has got blown by the pyroclastic surge
0:31:30 > 0:31:33and formed an impression of the face.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35The creases on his forehead.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42I can walk on the stage,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44but it's impossible to get a sense of its true scale.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49To shine some light on this, we need our scans.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Another building block in our 3D model of the bay.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58It helps reveal the outline of the stage itself in all its glory.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03The tunnels excavated by the treasure hunters
0:32:03 > 0:32:08help delineate the semi-circular shape of a 2,500-seat Roman theatre.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14The scan also reveals where the theatre was set in the Roman town,
0:32:14 > 0:32:18and that two thirds of Herculaneum is still entombed.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23No bodies were found in the theatre,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26so what happened to the people when Vesuvius erupted?
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Andrew has brought me to a place at the edge of town
0:32:31 > 0:32:33that recently provided the answer.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37We're right down by the ancient sea where all this...
0:32:37 > 0:32:40- Oh, I see!- ..green gunk is growing.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43- This was the sea.- This was sea.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46I see, and of course, that is just volcanic matter there.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49So, everyone escaped, then. This is... They were thinking...
0:32:49 > 0:32:51Well, come and meet them. Come and meet them.
0:32:54 > 0:33:00And every single one of these arches is packed with skeletons.
0:33:00 > 0:33:07We have this incredibly convincing image of a really ghastly death.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Do you see the way that their knees are contracted?
0:33:10 > 0:33:14- Yeah.- What happens when you're hit by a thermal blast...
0:33:14 > 0:33:15- It's fatal.- Everything contracts.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19- Yeah.- And they're all found in what's sometimes called
0:33:19 > 0:33:22the pugilist pose, as if they were fighting.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24But they don't even know about it.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28Sometimes, you find the skeleton with the top of the skull missing.
0:33:28 > 0:33:34Because the heat is so intense that the brain down there boils...
0:33:34 > 0:33:36- MAKES POPPING SOUND - ..blows the skull apart.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40There's a detail. Wow.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42I think, happily, they won't know too much about it
0:33:42 > 0:33:44- when their brains boil. - Right, yes, right.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48And it's very interesting they found not just skeletons in here,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51but spread out onto the shore. And on the whole,
0:33:51 > 0:33:54it's women and children right at the back
0:33:54 > 0:33:58and young males out at the front.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Goodness me. It's all well and good to walk around ruins
0:34:04 > 0:34:10and to talk about what happened, look up at Vesuvius and imagine.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13It's a scene from hell, really.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22400 people, one tenth of the population,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25waiting on the shore for a rescue that never came.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Like Pompeii and several nearby Roman towns,
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Herculaneum never recovered from the destruction of 79 AD.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47Ten kilometres up the road, Naples was completely untouched.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49A lucky break for the Romans,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51because the city was one of the most important ports
0:34:51 > 0:34:53in the whole of the Empire.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57To find out what life was like in downtown Naples
0:34:57 > 0:35:01just after the eruption, Michael's descending seven metres
0:35:01 > 0:35:03below the surface of the modern city.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09We've come to the Roman street
0:35:09 > 0:35:13that is part of the central Roman forum and market,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16and beneath this as well is the very origins of this city.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20Its Greek origins with its Greek agora, its marketplace,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23where you could buy food, chat politics
0:35:23 > 0:35:25and catch up on what was going on.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29And on top of it, the Romans have put their market,
0:35:29 > 0:35:30with shops lining the route
0:35:30 > 0:35:34where you could buy anything and everything.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37And we're now getting to the fresh fish area.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41These are the slanting tables that they'd have laid the fish out on,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44the slant helping to wash off all the excess liquid.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46And then on the floor,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50you've got the water channels so they could clear it all away.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56Our scanning reveals the influence of Roman Naples on the modern city.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59The streets are planned on the same axis.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04It also gives a sense of how big the ancient city might have been.
0:36:04 > 0:36:10Its own partially-excavated theatre had a huge capacity of 5,000,
0:36:10 > 0:36:12twice the size of Herculaneum's.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Roman Naples escaped unscathed the eruption of Vesuvius,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21but 400 years later, after cataclysmic flooding,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23it was buried in a mudslide.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31Wherever you go in the city,
0:36:31 > 0:36:34there's evidence that the trauma of these natural disasters
0:36:34 > 0:36:36has been seared into its soul.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43This is an extraordinary place. You've got these characters here.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46The souls of the dead in Purgatory.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Here they are, burning away, waiting for the living to pray for them.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54So, in the midst of all this life, death is right there.
0:36:55 > 0:36:56A bit spooky!
0:36:59 > 0:37:03Naples seems obsessed with religion and death.
0:37:03 > 0:37:09With 448 churches, it's one of the most devout cities in the world.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12It cares for its dead in some of the most exquisite cemeteries
0:37:12 > 0:37:14and catacombs in Italy.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18Those of the church of San Gaudioso are among the finest.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25But strangest of them all is the cemetery of Fontanelle.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30Until 1969, it was home to a cheery little group
0:37:30 > 0:37:32called the Cult Of The Abandoned Souls.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39Originally a tufo quarry - what else?
0:37:39 > 0:37:43It became a repository for bodies from various epidemics.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47In the 19th century, the bones were tidied
0:37:47 > 0:37:49and locals adopted individual skeletons
0:37:49 > 0:37:53and prayed for their souls in purgatory.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56In return, they believed the dead would help Neapolitans
0:37:56 > 0:37:58through their many disasters.
0:38:00 > 0:38:01This is like walking down...
0:38:02 > 0:38:04..the nave of some...
0:38:05 > 0:38:07..nightmare abbey.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14You could either think of this as the stuff of nightmares...
0:38:15 > 0:38:17..or as something...
0:38:17 > 0:38:19profoundly honest.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25And this is the truth that none of this can get away from.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27It's where we all end up.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Throughout their history, death, catastrophe,
0:38:34 > 0:38:38calamity has been thrown down on these people.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41They truly were living on the edge.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43And I get a sense that this is a place where the membrane
0:38:43 > 0:38:45between this world and the next...
0:38:46 > 0:38:49..is very thin. I'm thinking of those people
0:38:49 > 0:38:53sheltering from the bombing in World War II and that graffiti...
0:38:53 > 0:38:55Do you remember? On the wall of the tunnel, "Noi vivi".
0:38:55 > 0:38:56"We're still alive."
0:38:56 > 0:38:58And there they were being helped by the dead.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00The Bourbons, their tunnel.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03A hand being held through the membrane of those two worlds,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07in a way. There it is, this geological fault line
0:39:07 > 0:39:13that, like it or lump it, means they are in two worlds.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22And nowhere in the Bay of Naples represents that living fault line
0:39:22 > 0:39:26better than the burning fields of the slumbering supervolcano
0:39:26 > 0:39:28of Campi Flegrei.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33This place gave rise to some of the most powerful stories
0:39:33 > 0:39:35of the ancient worlds,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38none more potent than the myth of the underworld.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41The ancients believed that when they died,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44their souls descended to Hades.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47To get there, they crossed the underground River Styx,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53According to the Roman poet Virgil,
0:39:53 > 0:39:56"The gates of hell are open night and day.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59"Smooth the descent and easy is the way."
0:40:06 > 0:40:09Michael has brought me to the heart of the Campi Flegrei,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11to the Roman town of Baia,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14for my very own introduction to the underworld.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19So, Virgil, the great Roman epic writer who wrote the Aeneid,
0:40:19 > 0:40:23he lived here. And his character, Aeneas,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26this is where he accesses the underworld.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29And we're going to recreate one of those journeys for you today.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31Of course we are! Yes.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35I'm not sure what evil plan Michael's got in mind,
0:40:35 > 0:40:37but Ivana Gidoni will be our guide.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40And Ivana's a caving expert.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42And is this the entrance to the underworld
0:40:42 > 0:40:44that I've promised Xander?
0:40:44 > 0:40:45Yes, it is.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46- Good. - HE LAUGHS
0:40:46 > 0:40:48This way for the underworld, Xand.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Extraordinary.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:40:59 > 0:41:02It's a trench two metres and a half deep.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05It's about, what? Half a metre wide?
0:41:05 > 0:41:09- 60 centimetres, about. - OK, fine.- 60 centimetres.- Fine!
0:41:09 > 0:41:12And Xander, remind me, is it true you're a little claustrophobic?
0:41:12 > 0:41:16I'm... I've been known to be claustrophobic, yes.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18We can meet some animals also.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Some bats, scorpions.
0:41:20 > 0:41:21- Oh, good.- Cave crickets.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23- Friendly Italian ones. - Maybe some snakes.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Will they be released once we're in, or...? Rats and...
0:41:28 > 0:41:30- It'll be fine.- Be fine.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31'What's even more worrying is that
0:41:31 > 0:41:35'Ivana comes with a whole team of speleologists.'
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Am I allowed to ask yet what this is?
0:41:40 > 0:41:42It's the entrance to the underworld.
0:41:42 > 0:41:43That I'm getting!
0:41:47 > 0:41:52As soon as some problem should arise, we should stop.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55I am genuinely concerned. It's the fact there's going to be
0:41:55 > 0:41:57someone right in front of me and someone right behind me.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00- So, if I suddenly have an "aaargh!" moment...- We're there.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03Yes, it's the being-there-ness that worries me!
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Actually, what I really want is to be able to turn round and run out.
0:42:08 > 0:42:09Oh, wow.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11You'll be fine. It'll be absolutely fine.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26Suddenly, it gets a little bit darker.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31When this man-made tunnel was rediscovered in the 1960s,
0:42:31 > 0:42:34the explorers thought they'd found the mythical entrance
0:42:34 > 0:42:37leading to the River Styx - the threshold of hell.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44The most glorious effect, these wet roots.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46It's like we're walking through a giant's armpit
0:42:46 > 0:42:48on a particularly hot day!
0:42:50 > 0:42:53- How you doing, Xander? - I'm all right.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55It's quite... It's quite exciting.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00Wildlife quotient has gone up bit.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03I can't remember what else he said we were going to expect.
0:43:03 > 0:43:04Zebras, was it? I can't remember.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Now, Michael, we have reached a point
0:43:07 > 0:43:11where the level of the floor starts to incline downwards
0:43:11 > 0:43:13quite extremely. So, yeah, look out for that.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15Whoa!
0:43:15 > 0:43:19'The lower we go, the tighter the tunnel, the higher the temperature.'
0:43:19 > 0:43:22Ah, right, I see. Right, the level of the ceiling, right, comes down.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Michael, how long do you think we've been going?
0:43:24 > 0:43:26- About quarter of an hour?- Yeah.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28Feels like we're about quarter of a mile into the earth, doesn't it?
0:43:28 > 0:43:32- Yeah.- I haven't been laying my breadcrumbs, or whatever.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36It was said to be easy to find your way into the underworld.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41- Yes.- The real trick was finding your way back out again.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44I'm... I'm guessing today we're not going to be recreating that, though.
0:43:44 > 0:43:45MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:43:46 > 0:43:48We've come to a junction here.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52- OK.- It looks very much as though that tunnel goes underwater there.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54So, please, God, can we not be going that way.
0:43:54 > 0:43:55Let's go down first.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01- You brought your swimmers, right? - XANDER LAUGHS NERVOUSLY
0:44:01 > 0:44:03- It should be pleasingly warm. - I never quite know if he's joking.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07Oh, I might go down on my arse, I think.
0:44:07 > 0:44:08Yes.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11Is that... Yes, that's water right there.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14- Look down.- The river! - The river is here.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17There's every chance this could be the fabled River Styx.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21Yeah, I mean, I have to say, we've been spinning you a bit of a yarn.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23- That's more of a... - Don't... Don't ruin it!
0:44:23 > 0:44:25..a tourist story than it is an archaeological reality.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27- No, no, no!- I'm not being a killjoy,
0:44:27 > 0:44:29but the real story is perhaps even more interesting.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33- Yes.- Because this is definitely water heated by geothermal energy.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37When this water was first tested, it was at 50, 60 degrees C.
0:44:37 > 0:44:42So, the mystery is what is this man-made tunnel doing
0:44:42 > 0:44:45if we're not here for the River Styx?
0:44:45 > 0:44:47Well, to understand that,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51- it's probably best if we head back outside.- Oh!
0:44:51 > 0:44:56And I can show you what this might well have been doing here.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01'I was out of that tunnel like a rat up a drainpipe.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07'Once I'd recovered, Michael revealed what this was all about.'
0:45:07 > 0:45:12That was hot enough to send hot air blasting up that tunnel.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15And it diverts into three different mini tunnels
0:45:15 > 0:45:16just before it comes out here,
0:45:16 > 0:45:21coming to the underfloor area of this room.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24- I see!- And those are the telltale signs right there of...
0:45:24 > 0:45:25- Yes.- Underfloor heating.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28So, where are we right here?
0:45:30 > 0:45:31This is all that remains of a bath complex.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- I see!- This is what people came to Baia for.
0:45:34 > 0:45:39And Baia was the largest set of thermal mineral hot springs
0:45:39 > 0:45:42in the ancient world. Right here.
0:45:42 > 0:45:43Right here.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48So, Roman Baia was a spa resort taking full advantage of the
0:45:48 > 0:45:51geothermal waters of the burning fields.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56Our aqueduct, the Aqua Augusta,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59even came through here to help quench its thirst.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03We're off to see one of Baia's wonders,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05fed by the aqueduct's waters.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10VOICE ECHOING: Oh, look at this!
0:46:12 > 0:46:13Listen to this!
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Welcome to the Temple Of Echoes.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20It's like a sort of mini Pantheon, isn't it?
0:46:20 > 0:46:23The dome is half the size of the Pantheon in Rome,
0:46:23 > 0:46:28but until the Pantheon was built in its second century AD version,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31this was the biggest dome around.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33But it's actually a swimming pool.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39SPLASH ECHOES
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Oh, look at that!
0:46:44 > 0:46:45Oh, it's beautiful!
0:46:47 > 0:46:50And how many Romans do you think sort of laid back
0:46:50 > 0:46:52after a decent two-amphora lunch?
0:46:52 > 0:46:54Recovering from the night before.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57Saying, "Whoa, throw another stone!"
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Baia was so popular as a spa resort
0:47:05 > 0:47:08that the great and the good from emperors to ordinary citizens
0:47:08 > 0:47:11flocked here in search of a cure.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16But Romans being Romans, that wasn't all they came for.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20On the one hand, you've got the Roman writers saying
0:47:20 > 0:47:22that this place is a beautiful gift of nature.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24- Yeah.- But on the other hand,
0:47:24 > 0:47:27it's a place in which the Romans can really let their hair down.
0:47:27 > 0:47:32You hear Roman love writers sort of pleading with their girlfriends
0:47:32 > 0:47:35not to come to Baia because,
0:47:35 > 0:47:37you know, the place is a crime against love.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39It's just about sex here.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43This was, "Come, fill your boots, we won't talk about it any further."
0:47:43 > 0:47:45And there's one thing I'm wondering about,
0:47:45 > 0:47:47is where did they live when they were here?
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Well, just like any posh seaside town today,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53the most expensive villas are on the seafront.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55So, I imagine they've been sort of built over?
0:47:55 > 0:47:59No, they haven't been built over, but they are hidden from view.
0:47:59 > 0:48:00Well, from us here, at least.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03Because they're actually now under the water.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10Even powerful Roman playboys couldn't hold back a supervolcano.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13Its heaving underground belly
0:48:13 > 0:48:16constantly filling and emptying with magma
0:48:16 > 0:48:19causes the coastline to rise and fall.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26I've survived the underworld. Now I'm heading underwater.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29And our scanning team is joining Michael and me
0:48:29 > 0:48:32for the most ambitious stage of their mission.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38In another first, they'll be scanning beneath Baia's waves.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41All I have to do is get my wet suit on.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45These are backward-facing wet suits, right?
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Xander...
0:48:47 > 0:48:49Have I got the wrong...?
0:48:49 > 0:48:51Oh, no!
0:48:51 > 0:48:53- LAUGHTER - Yeah, I'm afraid you're...
0:48:57 > 0:49:00This is going to be special for both of us.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04Even Michael has never seen the treasures we've been promised.
0:49:04 > 0:49:09Quite cold, so I'm preparing myself mentally for that.
0:49:09 > 0:49:10NASALLY: And I'm talking like this.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14Come on in, Xander, the water's lovely.
0:49:14 > 0:49:15Honest!
0:49:20 > 0:49:21He's not kidding!
0:49:23 > 0:49:25This is Baia's lost harbour,
0:49:25 > 0:49:29where the notorious Caligula is supposed to have refuted a prophecy
0:49:29 > 0:49:33that he would never be emperor until he rode on horseback
0:49:33 > 0:49:34across the water of the bay.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43So, he tethered 4,000 ships together from this harbour wall
0:49:43 > 0:49:44and trotted across.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49No mistaking those columns, is there?
0:49:49 > 0:49:51This area's called the Portus Iulius.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54But it's the mole, the harbour walls that were sunk.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56I was going to say, this is a functional building, isn't it?
0:49:56 > 0:49:59- Yeah, to create safe space. - These are not your posh villas here.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- No.- No.- Originally for the Roman military fleet.- Yeah.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07Now, I want to experience the posh villas
0:50:07 > 0:50:10where I've been told the dining rooms contained sea-water pools
0:50:10 > 0:50:12on which exotic dishes floated.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17That may not be quite as easy as I thought.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21As these watery gems have sunk even deeper beneath the waves,
0:50:21 > 0:50:23we'll need to scuba-dive.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25But only one of us is a diver.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30Well, Michael's just gone overboard.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32I mean, he's got... He's got the easy job here.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36I, meanwhile, have got to sit here and man the comms.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Mikey Michael, this is Xander, are you receiving me?
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Maybe that was something being plugged in.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54'Can you hear me, topside? Over.'
0:50:54 > 0:50:56Yes, I can.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Over. Loud and clear.
0:50:59 > 0:51:04'Xander...this is absolutely incredible down here.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10'I could do with a little champagne, I think, at this moment in time.'
0:51:13 > 0:51:15Tell me what you can see, over.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18'So, we're in one of the rooms
0:51:18 > 0:51:21'of one of those posh, fancy villa owners.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26'And I am currently in the process of uncovering
0:51:26 > 0:51:28'this gentleman's mosaic floor.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33'I don't know if his guests were impressed 2,000 years ago,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36'but I'm certainly impressed today.'
0:51:38 > 0:51:40Oh, Michael, that sounds incredible.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44I'm just wondering how quickly I can learn to scuba dive,
0:51:44 > 0:51:45so I can come down and join you.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48- MICHAEL LAUGHS - 'You would absolutely love it.'
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Michael, we've got a snorkel here.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53I might pop that on. I can see it with a snorkel, surely?
0:51:53 > 0:51:55'Absolutely. You can't miss this.'
0:51:57 > 0:52:01'I also wish I knew what had happened in this...'
0:52:01 > 0:52:05I feel like a war child listening to Churchill on the radio.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07I just want... I want to get in there.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09'Wow.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11'If only this mosaic could talk.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15'I'm sure it would have some fantastic stories
0:52:15 > 0:52:16'and secrets to tell us all.'
0:52:18 > 0:52:20Michael's description doesn't disappoint.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22I can just imagine this as one of those villas
0:52:22 > 0:52:25with sea-water pools and floating dishes.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30But some Roman god with a sense of humour has taken it a step further
0:52:30 > 0:52:33and inundated the whole villa with sea water.
0:52:45 > 0:52:50It's like the tiled floor of some oligarch's gym, I should think.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52Very beautiful.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54And there's so much more.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56Roads running along the seafront...
0:52:58 > 0:53:02..countless amphorae and even a villa with its statues.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05They're now faithful replicas,
0:53:05 > 0:53:09so that enthusiasts can still share the magic of this lost world.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15'I absolutely love it down here.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19'This is the first time that I've been able
0:53:19 > 0:53:22'to see this underwater world.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27'Lost in time, wrapped in silence,
0:53:27 > 0:53:30'as the sea levels have risen and the Earth has fallen.'
0:53:33 > 0:53:35What a great place to experience.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41The scanning team has almost completed its underwater mission.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50What an experience. Extraordinary! Extraordinary,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53then you come up and look at this bay anew and you think, well,
0:53:53 > 0:53:55what must this have been like?
0:53:57 > 0:54:00'We are better placed than ever before to find out.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03'In another first for our scanning team,
0:54:03 > 0:54:07'they're bringing it back to life as virtual reality.'
0:54:08 > 0:54:11I'm going to show you Baia like you've never seen it before.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13OK, shall I get in there?
0:54:15 > 0:54:16Oh!
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Oh, wonderful, I can see. It's completely 3D.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23I see where we are. Look at this!
0:54:23 > 0:54:27You see the little traces of algae and fish life around you.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29I do! Look... Oh, and I can breathe!
0:54:29 > 0:54:32- Yeah, handy, isn't it? - HE INHALES DEEPLY
0:54:32 > 0:54:35It's fantastic. I feel like I'm snorkelling, slightly.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37HE GASPS
0:54:37 > 0:54:39So this is what Michael was talking about.
0:54:39 > 0:54:40Look at that!
0:54:42 > 0:54:45- Incredible. I'm so dry! - Yeah.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47I think I'm going down for a little crawl on the floor,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49just to have a closer look at it.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57I feel like I've been dusting all the sand away.
0:54:57 > 0:54:58Almost every tile.
0:55:00 > 0:55:01Time to come up for air
0:55:01 > 0:55:05and explore what the team has done with above-ground Baia.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07Blimey, there it is.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10There's Baia. It's like we've got a sort of tabletop train set.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13- Yeah. Or the best doll's house in the world.- It's amazing!
0:55:13 > 0:55:15Look at that! I mean, it...
0:55:15 > 0:55:18The extraordinary thing is we never got a chance to see
0:55:18 > 0:55:20how beautifully landscaped it is.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23It's the weirdest thing in the world.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25What about that! Amazing!
0:55:28 > 0:55:30It helps build up an astonishing picture
0:55:30 > 0:55:33of what Baia was like two millennia ago
0:55:33 > 0:55:36before half of it was dragged underwater by the volcanic activity
0:55:36 > 0:55:40that gave it life and then snuffed it out.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48With our 3D model almost complete,
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Michael has a plan to piece together all the strands of our story.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55So he's taking me to nearby Miseno,
0:55:55 > 0:56:00the port that succeeded Baia as the headquarters of the Roman fleet.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05Thousands of sailors,
0:56:05 > 0:56:08but also all the support staff were all suddenly based out of here.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12- It would have put enormous strain on the natural resources.- Yeah.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15And so they came up with a solution to be able to
0:56:15 > 0:56:17at least give them water to drink.
0:56:19 > 0:56:25This is just the most extraordinarily magnificent place.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27Absolutely colossal.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33So this is the largest ever Roman cistern,
0:56:33 > 0:56:36built to hold the water that would be necessary
0:56:36 > 0:56:39to supply such a large number of people.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42And where did all that water come from?
0:56:42 > 0:56:43I'm guessing this is the Aqua...
0:56:43 > 0:56:46- The Aqua Augusta, that we saw back in Naples.- There we are.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51The Aqua Augusta, that runs for 100km,
0:56:51 > 0:56:53connects all the places we visited.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56It's the thread that draws our 3D model together.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01It shows how Baia really was two millennia ago.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06It reveals Naples' hidden underworld
0:57:06 > 0:57:09that helped it grow into one of the world's greatest cities.
0:57:10 > 0:57:16And it shows the Roman towns that thrived in Vesuvius' fertile soils
0:57:16 > 0:57:18before they were destroyed by it.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26They've been so flabbergasting, the things we've seen.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28I think the most beautiful thing was looking at the mosaic.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32As you were sort of sweeping that away, that must have felt wonderful.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34That was a magic experience. Something I will never forget.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37And I think Naples is one of the places in the world
0:57:37 > 0:57:40where you can really get a sense of people building on
0:57:40 > 0:57:43the foundations of civilisations that came before them.
0:57:43 > 0:57:44The layers of time.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48Below ground, below the water and above ground, as well.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50It's extraordinary and, you know, you look up here,
0:57:50 > 0:57:53there's Vesuvius over there, and people have lived
0:57:53 > 0:57:57in full knowledge of the shadow they might be under at any moment.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59But, you know, they'll take that
0:57:59 > 0:58:02for the joy of living in this beautiful place.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05It's like a city that's entire history has been lived
0:58:05 > 0:58:08- as if during wartime.- On the edge. - Do you know what I mean?
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Carpe Diem, as you said. We've just got to...
0:58:10 > 0:58:13- We've got to live! - Intoxicating, heady,
0:58:13 > 0:58:16but perhaps one to not stay in too long.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18I think that's probably right. Yes.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20- I think...- See Naples... - See Naples and go home!
0:58:23 > 0:58:25Next time, Venice.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28Italy's amphibious city.
0:58:28 > 0:58:31The smell of power reeking.
0:58:31 > 0:58:33Welcome to the highlight of Black Death.
0:58:33 > 0:58:34Right, we're off.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36The city was devoted to erotic pleasure.
0:58:36 > 0:58:38Weyyy, ohhh!
0:58:38 > 0:58:43If you'd like to explore Naples in 3D yourself, go to...
0:58:43 > 0:58:45..and follow the link.