Baiae, a city that dates back to ancient Rome, was a place for the rich to party. The city was likened to Las Vegas for the Roman Empire with all its luxuries. However, now the city is sinking and is under the sea.
The city of Baiae is on the west coast of Italy, about 30 km from Naples. In its day, about 2,000 years ago, this city served the Roman aristocrats, poets, orators, wealthy people, to generals of that era. There are many magnificent buildings in Baiae, the architecture is larger and soaring with stunning and elaborate decorations.
In fact, some have made private caves filled with marble. Seven emperors, including Augustus and Nero, also had villas there, as did Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. Parties are usually held in luxury resorts, there are some that are built on water, buildings that are now called underswater villas. In Baiae, anything can be done as long as you have money.
But who would have thought, all the luxuries and splendor of this 'city of sin' then drowned because of a terrible natural disaster. In the fourth century, bradyseism, the rise and fall of the land due to hydrothermal and seismic activity, has made the city now at a depth of 4-6 meters under the sea.
Luxurious resorts, marble statues, ornamental fish ponds, temples to all the splendor & luxury in Baiae finally drowned due to volcanic activity in the region. Today, the city is a site of ancient underwater ruins of interest to tourists and archaeologists.
"It's hard, especially for first-timers, to imagine that you can find things you can never see anywhere else in the world in just a few meters of water," said Marcello Bertolaso, head of the Campi Flegrei dive center, which usually brings tourists around the site.
Once an archaeological site, Baiae was not formally designated a protected area until 2002, when the site was opened to the public. However, to be able to visit it, tourists must be accompanied by a registered guide.