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Italy’s Underwater Sculpture Garden

Italy’s Underwater Sculpture Garden

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The town of Baiae in southern Italy was a playground for ancient Rome’s rich and famous, until it slowly sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Pozzuoli. For the past four decades, archaeologists have explored the ruins of the town’s grand villas, including a nymphaeum in which once stood marble statues of gods, heroes, and members of the imperial family. The original statues have been moved to a local museum to preserve them, and today, divers can visit the site and see replicas of the statues.

  • The remnants of the apse of a nymphaeum at Baiae that once held a statue of the Greek hero Odysseus. (Edoardo Ruspantini)
  • A diver swims by a replica of a statue of Dionysus, the god of wine, in the nymphaeum at Baiae. (Paquale Vassallo)
  • A replica of a sculpture of Odysseus holding a bowl in the nymphaeum at Baiae (Pasquale Vassallo)
  • A replica in Baiae’s nymphaeum of a statue of Antonia Minor, mother of the emperor Claudius, possibly holding his daughter, Claudia Octavia, who died young (Pasquale Vassallo)
  • A diver swims between replicas of statues depicting Dionysus (left) and a young girl (right) at Baiae. (Pasquale Vassallo)