More from Puteoli, Italy
“And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.” Acts 28:13-14
There are number of amazing archeological features to been seen in modern day Pozzuoli that the Apostle Paul would likely have seen when he landed at the harbor of the Biblical era city, Puteoli and during the 7 days he spent there.
The first is the harbor area itself. The ancient mole is still in use after a fashion - it was entirely encased in concrete in modern times and still serves as the mole today. This huge mole was the first stop for large ships transporting grain / luxury goods / obelisks / exotic animals … to be loaded onto shallower boats to go to Roman port of Ostia and up the Tiber to the city of Rome. The entire area is subject to subtle (and not so subtle) seismic activity that has caused parts of the harbor and surrounding area to sink over the centuries. The harbor market must have been a sort of agora in Paul’s time. In the 1st century AD a large building was erected that we see the remains of in the pictures. The building had a square courtyard, surrounded by two-storey shops. 34 columns formed a colonnade with marble floors. A circular tholos was in the center for worship with a portico of 4 large columns and niches for divinity statues. The tholos building is thought to have had a domed vault. The level of sea at various eras can be seen in staining of the columns.
One of the most visible features at Paul’s time would have been the high volcanic tufa bluff, the Rione Terra, upon which was a huge temple. Archeologists say that this was a temple to Augusta by the mid 1st century AD, but built on a much older temple from the Roman Republican era. The temple at the time of Paul had fluted columns and white marble flooring in the cella that were incorporated into a church between the 5th and 6th centuries AD. The church was damaged and restored numerous times. Most recently, the entire Rione Terra promontory suffered from slow tectonic shifting in the 1970’s and 80’s and had to be completely abandoned in 1992. The entire area is being restored by a consortium of architects / archeologists / government / donors. The restored Pozzuoli Basilica retains a number of the original ancient fluted columns. These were used by installing huge glass walls between the columns. All around the basilica are ancient remains of the original temple complex which now rightly support the proclamation of the gospel!
The city of Pozzuoli, Italy - ancient Puteoli where Paul landed in Italy on his way to appear before the Roman Emperor.
