THE PHLEGRAEAN FIELDS, LIVING WITH A SLEEPING GIANT

With a significant earthquake recently reported today in Campi Flegrei, Napoli, The Grandma has been reminiscing about the years she lived in this extraordinary and captivating region while studying at the University of Federico II.

A piece of The Grandma's heart remains in this city (Napoli) and region (Campania) -a place that shares a past history with Catalunya, making walking through its city streets feel just as familiar as strolling through Catalan towns.

When The Grandma first visited the Solfatara, she could hardly believe there was a campsite beside an active volcanic crater. To her, it seemed unthinkable. To the Neapolitans, it simply felt like another beautiful place to spend a weekend. That, perhaps, says more about Napoli than any history book ever could. Living between Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei has taught generations that life is unpredictable. Their answer has never been fear, but an extraordinary determination to live every single day with passion. 

Pozzuoli is a city near Naples, best known as the hometown of Sophia Loren -that iconic Neapolitan and global legend- but also as one of the cities within the Campi Flegrei area. This region, characterized by extraordinary volcanic and seismic activity, presents a genuine challenge for geologists, volcanologists, and oceanographers alike, while also offering a fascinating destination for lovers of culture and history.

The earthquake of today, July 31, 2026 (M4.7), once again has reminded the world that the Campi Flegrei remain one of the most closely monitored volcanic calderas on the planet. The quake was one of the most intense recorded in the area in decades, causing minor damage, service disruptions, and numerous aftershocks, but it also refocused attention on the phenomenon of bradyseism, which has been slowly raising the ground level in Pozzuoli for years.

There are places that leave a mark on your memory for their beauty. Others do so because they make you feel how small we really are. The Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields), west of Napoli, somehow manage to do both at once.

The Grandma lived there for a while during the 1990s while studying in Napoli. Long before she knew anything about volcanic calderas or bradyseism, she simply fell in love with the place. Pozzuoli, Baia, Bacoli... every corner seemed to tell a story. Roman ruins emerged from the sea, fishermen repaired their nets in the harbour, families filled the waterfront until late at night, and life unfolded with an intensity that was impossible not to admire.

Then, on 31 July 2026, a magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck the area, reminding everyone that beneath this beautiful landscape lies one of the most fascinating -and closely monitored- volcanic systems on Earth.

Unlike Mount Vesuvius, which rises dramatically above the Bay of Naples, the Campi Flegrei are not a single volcano. They are a vast volcanic caldera, around 12–15 kilometres wide, formed by enormous eruptions tens of thousands of years ago. More than twenty craters, fumaroles, hot springs and volcanic cones are scattered across the region, many of them hidden beneath modern towns.

Walking through Pozzuoli, you are actually walking inside an active volcano. One of the most extraordinary features of Campi Flegrei is a phenomenon known as bradyseism -the slow rise and fall of the ground caused by pressure changes beneath the surface. Entire neighbourhoods have gradually lifted by several metres over the centuries before sinking again.

Perhaps nowhere illustrates this better than the Temple of Serapis in Pozzuoli. Despite its name, it was actually an ancient Roman marketplace. The marble columns still bear the unmistakable holes left by marine molluscs that once lived on them when the building stood below sea level. Those tiny shells tell an astonishing geological story: the land itself has repeatedly risen and fallen through history.

The volcanic activity beneath Campi Flegrei has intensified over recent years. Since 2018, scientists have observed increasing ground uplift together with more frequent earthquakes. Continuous monitoring by Italian authorities has become essential, not because an eruption is considered imminent, but because this restless volcanic system is constantly changing.

Yet what we remember most is not the volcano. It is the people. Neapolitans have a remarkable relationship with uncertainty. Living between Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei means accepting that nature cannot be controlled. Perhaps that is why life is embraced with such passion.

Coming from Catalunya, where we often value restraint and discretion, we found the contrast almost overwhelming. In Napoli everything seems larger than life. Conversations become performances. Gestures replace punctuation. Family lunches turn into celebrations. Even a simple disagreement can sound like an opera scene to an outsider. They laugh loudly. They argue passionately. They celebrate everything. And somehow, despite living above one of Europe's most active volcanic systems, they possess an extraordinary ability to enjoy the present.

It would be easy to describe Campi Flegrei as a dangerous place. It is more accurate to describe it as a living landscape -one where geology, history and humanity have coexisted for thousands of years.

Roman emperors built luxurious villas in nearby Baia, attracted by its thermal waters. Greek settlers founded colonies along these shores. Ancient Romans believed this was the entrance to the Underworld. Today, volcanologists install GPS stations, satellites measure ground deformation with millimetre precision, and seismographs record every tremor beneath the caldera. The technology has changed. The volcano remains. So do the people. Whenever we hear news about Pozzuoli or Campi Flegrei, we don't immediately think about earthquakes or volcanic hazards.

The Grandma remembers evenings along the waterfront. The smell of the sea. The voices filling the streets. The warmth of people who taught her that life is not measured by certainty, but by how fully we choose to live it. Perhaps that is the greatest lesson Campi Flegrei has to offer. The Earth beneath our feet is never truly still. Neither should our appreciation for the time we are given.

The first time The Grandma's Neapolitan friends discovered she was from Barcelona and supported Barça, they insisted on taking her to a tiny shrine hidden in Via Benedetto Croce. Flowers surrounded what looked like a sacred relic.

"Whose hair is that?" she asked. "A saint? Padre Pio? Some famous artist?"

They looked at her, almost offended.

"No... They belong to God."

"God?"

"Diego Armando Maradona."

Only in Napoli could such a conversation feel perfectly natural.

Perhaps, we, the Catalans recognized God before anyone else, because He wore number 10 -and Déu (God) in Catalan is spelled the same way as the number deu (ten). We simply didn't realize there would never be another God. Years later, football gave us something different -not another deity, but our own MESSIah. 

More information: Taylor & Francis Online

Living on the slopes of an active volcano 
keeps life interesting!

Steven Magee