The city of Baie was once an ancient resort for aristocrats and the rich, until it began to slowly sink into the Gulf of Pozzuoli. Over the past four decades, archaeologists have explored the ruins of the city's magnificent villas and the nymphaeum, which once housed marble statues of gods, heroes and members of the imperial family.
The original statues were moved to a local museum for safekeeping, and today divers can visit the site and see replicas of the statues.
Remains of the apse of the nymphaeum at Baiae, which once housed a statue of a Greek hero.
Edoardo Ruspantini
The city of Bayi was popular in ancient times for its hot springs and resort climate. Roman emperors and other prominent personalities lived in luxurious villas.
However, later the city began to sink under water due to geological processes in the region.
A diver swims near a replica statue of Dionysus, the god of wine, in a nymphaeum in Baiae.
Pasquale Vassallo
In the 1950s, the Italian archaeologist Antonio De Maria began a study of the underwater ruins of Bahia, which continued until his death in 1989. Archaeologists found the ruins of many villas and other buildings, as well as the remains of an ancient Roman road, which connected Bayi with the rest of the cities of the region.
A copy of the sculpture of Odysseus with a bowl in a nymphaeum in Baiae.
Pasquale Vassallo
A copy of the statue of Anthony Minor, mother of Emperor Claudius, possibly holding her daughter Claudia Octavia, who died young, in her arms.
Pasquale Vassallo
A diver swims between replica statues depicting Dionysus (left) and a girl (right) in Baiae.
Pasquale Vassallo