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AVERNUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 58 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AVERNUS , a See also:

lake of See also:Campania, See also:Italy, about 11 m. N. of Baiae. It is an old volcanic See also:crater, nearly 2 M. in circumference, now, as in See also:Roman times, filled with See also:water. Its See also:depth is 213 ft., and its height above See also:sea-level 31 ft.; it has no natural outlet. In See also:ancient times it was surrounded by dense forests, and was the centre of many legends. It was represented as the entrance by which both See also:Odysseus and See also:Aeneas descended to the infernal regions, and as the See also:abode of the See also:Cimmerii. Its See also:Greek name, "Aopvos, was explained to mean that no See also:bird could See also:fly across it. See also:Hannibal made a See also:pilgrimage to it in 214 B.C. See also:Agrippa in 37 B.C. converted it into a See also:naval See also:harbour, the See also:Portus See also:Julius; joining it to the Lacus Lucrinus by a See also:canal, and connecting the latter with the sea, he reduced the distance to See also:Cumae by See also:boring a See also:tunnel over 2 m. in length, now called Grotta della See also:Pace, through the See also:hill on the See also:north-See also:west See also:side of Lake Avernus. After Sextus Pompeius had been subdued, the See also:chief naval harbour was transferred to See also:Misenum. See also:Nero's See also:works for his proposed canal from Baiae to the See also:Tiber (A.D. 64) seem to have begun near,Lake Avernus; indeed, according to one tl}eory, the Grotta della Pace would be a portion of this canal.

On the See also:

east side of the lake are remains of See also:baths, including a See also:great octagonal See also:hall known as the See also:Temple of See also:Apollo, built of See also:brickwork, and belonging to the 1st See also:century. The so-called Grotto of the Cumaean Sibyl, on the See also:south side, is a See also:rock-cut passage, ventilated by See also:vertical apertures, possibly a See also:part of the works connected with the naval harbour. To the south-east of the lake is the See also:Monte Nuovo, a volcanic hill upheaved in 1538, with a deep See also:extinct crater in the centre. To the south is the Lacus Lucrinus. See J. Beloch, Campanien (2nd ed., See also:Breslau, 1890), pp. 168 seq. (T.

End of Article: AVERNUS

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