EVER since Orpheus went in search of Eurydice, the Underworld has been luring people down into its depths. There’s something about the dark, dank realm beneath our feet that exerts an atavistic attraction, as attested by any number of myths and legends associated with subterranean settings. Caves must always have inspired certain feelings of fear and awe, so it’s no surprise that they were often identified as entrances to the nether regions, becoming centres of religious devotion. Ancient Greece was peppered with sacred caves and grottos, from the birthplace of Zeus on Mount Ida in Crete to the Necromanteion of Acheron. The Romans in their turn dedicated many underground sanctuaries to their gods. The sea caverns around the Bay of Naples became playgrounds of the Roman super-rich and the Emperor Nero added statues of Neptune and Triton to the legendary Blue Grotto in Capri, when he adapted it as an unearthly swimming pool.
Subterranean sites even had their role to play in early Christianity, such as Christ’s tomb and the catacombs of
