Turning to the right on entering the town, and taking the first street to the left, we reach the Piazza de' Giudici, or market-place, in 6 min. , and then enter the Via del Duomo to the right.
The Cathedral, dating from the 11th cent., possesses a handsome entrance-court with ancient columns, but in other respects lhas been entirely modernised.
Interior. 3rd Chapel on the left: Madonna della Rosa of the 13th century. 3rd Chapel on the right: Madonna with two saints by Silvestro de' Buoni. The Crypt, dating from the Romanesque period, but now modernised, contains Mosaics from an old pulpit, a Roman Sarcophagus with a representation of the Hunt of Meleager, and a Holy Sepulchre by Bernini, being one of his best works.
The Via del Duomo, passing through an archway, leads to the Corso Museo Campano. (Proceeding thence in a straight direction, we may reach the ramparts, which command a pleasing view of the Volturno.) In this street, on the right, is situated the Museo Campano, which is entered from the first side-street on the right. It is open daily, 9-3 o' clock, except on Sundays and festivals.
The Court contains reliefs from the amphitheatre of Capua; inscriptions; ancient sarcophagi, including one of the period of Constantine; mediaeval tomb-monuments; a sitting statue of Frederick II. (sadly mutilated and without its head), which formerly surmounted the gateway of the tete-de-pont constructed by him on the right bank of the Volturno about 1240, and destroyed in 1557; heads of statues of Petrus de Vineis (?) and Thaddæus of Suessa (?), and a colossal head of 'Capua Imperiale’ (casts at the Museo Nazionale in Naples), also from Frederick II. 'a tete-de-pont. The rooms in the Interior contain ancient terracottas, vases, coins, a few pictures of little value, and a small library.
The bridge across the Volturno, restored in 1756, is adorned with a statue of St. Nepomuc. Beyond it is an inscription in memory of the Emperor Frederick II. The Torre Mignana within, and the Cappella de’ Morti without the town commemorate the sanguinary attack made on Capua by Caesar Borgia in 1501, on which occasion 5000 lives were sacrificed.
On our left after the train has crossed the Volturno, lies the battle-field on which King Francis II. of Naples was defeated by the Garibaldians and Piedmontese on 1st Oct., 1860.
130 M. Santa Maria di Capua Vetere (Loc. Roma; Trattoria Vermouth di Torino, Via Alessandro Milbitz, leading to the Amphitheatre) is a prosperous town , on the site of the ancient Capua, containing considerable ruins.
Capua, founded by the Etruscans and afterwards occupied by Samnite tribes, entered into alliance with the Romans B.C. 343, for the sake of protection against the attacks of the Samnites of the mountains. Owing to the luxuriant fertility of the district, the power and wealth of the city developed themselves at an early period. It was the largest city in Italy after Rome, but soon became noted for its effeminacy and degeneracy. In the Second Punic War, after the battle of Cannes (B.C. 216), it entered into an alliance with Hannibal, who took up his winter-quarters here. That his soldiers became so enervated by their residence at Capua as no longer to be a match for the Romans, is doubtless a mere hypothesis. Certain, however, it is, that the Romans soon obtained the superiority, and after a long siege reduced the town, B.C. 211. Its punishment was a severe one, and the inhabitants were entirely deprived of all civic privileges. It was rescued from its abject condition by Caesar, and under his successors regained its ancient splendour. It continued to prosper until the wars of the Goths, Vandals, and Lombards. In the 9th cent, it was destroyed by the Saracens, and the inhabitants emigrated to the modern Capua.
Proceeding straight from the station, taking the first street to the left, and following the Via Alessandro Milbitz in nearly the same direction to its farther end (5 min.), we turn to the left into the Via Anfiteatro, which leads in a curve round the town to (10 min.) the ancient amphitheatre. Before reaching it, we cross an open space where we observe, on the left, the ruins of a Roman Triumphal Arch, now a gate, through which the Capua road passes.
The *Amphitheatre of Capua (adm. 1 fr. for each pers.), which is said to he one of the largest and most ancient in Italy, is constructed of travertine. The longer diameter is 185 yds., the shorter 152 yds. in length. The arena measures 83 yds. by 49 yds.
Three of its passages are tolerably well preserved, but of the 80 entrance-arches two only. The keystones are decorated with images of gods. The Arena, with its substructures, passages, and dens for the wild beasts (to which a staircase descends from the passage to the left), is, like that of Pozzuoli, better defined than the arena of the Colosseum at Rome. The Passages contain remains of ancient decorations, fragments of columns, bas-reliefs, etc. To the right, near the entrance, the visitor may ascend to the upper part of the structure, in order to obtain a survey of the ruins themselves, and of the extensive surrounding plain. Large schools were once maintained at Capua for the training of gladiators, and it was here in B.C. 83, that the War of the Gladiators under Spartacus the Thracian broke out, which was with difficulty quelled by Crassus two years later.
Above Capua rises Mons Tifata, once the site of a temple of Jupiter, now crowned by a chapel of San Nicola. At its base, about 4 1/2 M. from Santa Maria, stands the old church of Sant’ Angelo in Formis, with frescoes of the 11th cent, (valuable in the history of art), occupying the site of a celebrated temple of Diana, around which a village had established itself.
The highroad from Capua to Maddaloni via Santa Maria and Caserta presents a scene of brisk traffic. The road from Santa Maria to Caserta (a drive of 3/4 &r.) passes two handsome Roman tombs.