Welcome to the site Napoliforme

The temple that dominates the upper terrace of the acropolis is traditionally identified as the temple of Jupiter, but new discoveries (particularly inscriptions and votive artefacts referring to the cult of the god) have recognised it as being dedicated to the god Apollo. It is the myth handed down by Virgil (Aeneid VI, 13-29) that preserves the memory of the Apollonian temple. Daedalus, having fled from the labyrinth of Crete, reached the Campanian coast unharmed and, on the highest part of the hill that was to become the acropolis of Cumae, founded a temple consecrated to Apollo to thank the god.The remains of the archaic phases of the sanctuary, Greek (6th century B.C.) and Samnite, are barely identifiable in the lower part of the basement made of yellow tuff blocks. But excavation tests in the area of the cella show that the Roman renovation, the best documented phase, retains the structure of the Greek temple, oriented east/west and with five naves, with the cella becoming inaccessible to the faithful, who can watch the rites from the open windows on the long side of the temple. As with the sanctuary on the lower terrace, in late antiquity (5th century AD) the temple was transformed into a church: it is the cathedral of Cumae, dedicated to St Maximus, and contains the tombs of bishops and a chapel dedicated to the martyred saints. The walls of the circular baptismal font, built in the space behind the ancient cell, are covered with coloured marble, some of which is still visible.