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Visit Santa Maria Capua Vetere

The town of Santa Maria Capua Vetere is a few kilometres west of Caserta and north of Naples, in south-western Italy

With a history stretching back to the Etruscans and the Samnites (at which time it was one of the most important cities in Italy), and later an important centre for the Ancient Romans, Santa Maria Capua Vetere (at that time known as Capua) attracts visitors predominantly because of its ancient Roman monuments.

Much the most important of these is the amphitheatre, built by the Emperor Augusts and a very large construction that still retains the tunnels underneath the structure (the structure itself is in reasonable condition but much less so than, for example, the colosseum in Rome).

Note: it was at Santa Maria Capua Vetere that Spartacus led the revolt of the gladiators, a fact commemorated in a museum dedicated to the gladiators on the site of the ruins.

You can also see the remains of a Roman baths and a couple of tombs dating from the same epoch.

Another curious find is a mithraeum - a small dark place of worship for members of the ancient Mithraist religion (these are found all over Europe, but most commonly in Germany and Italy). It also contains a fresco of Mithras himself.

There is also a museum at nearby modern Capua that contains many of the Ancient Roman objects that have been excavated in and around Santa Maria Capua Vetere.