Campi Flegrei

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Sulfur at the solfatara crater

Campi Flegrei, also known as the Phlegrean Fields (Greek for "burning fields"), is a large Caldera area situated in the west area of Napoli, Italy. Today most of the crater lies underwater, but includes the town of Pozzuoli and the Solfatara crater, home of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. It is thought that the caldera was created in 2 major events, the first (Campanian Ignimbrite) occurred in the area about 40,000 years ago. At approximately 12,000 years ago another major eruption occurred forming a smaller caldera inside the main one (centered on the town of Pozzuoli), this event is known as the Neopolitan Yellow Tuff (referring to the characteristic yellow rocks there).

In 1538, an 8-day eruption in the area deposited enough material to create a new hill, Monte Nuovo ("new mountain").