Puteolana: Seismic soccer — Terrace Edition

Words: Gennaro Colella

Images: Gennaro Colella

Pozzuoli is a city located in the Phlegraean Fields, a volcanic area west of Naples.

An ancient Roman colony founded in 194 BC under the name Puteoli, it was one of the most important ports of the Roman Empire.

Today, it is known for its archaeological sites, such as the Flavian Amphitheater, the Temple of Serapis, and the Solfatara, an active volcanic crater.

Bradyseism is a phenomenon that is more prevalent here than anywhere else. This geological phenomenon is characteristic of the Phlegraean Fields area and involves a slow uplift or subsidence of the ground due to underground volcanic activity.

It can last for months or years and, in some cases, cause earthquakes or eruptions.

©Gennaro Colella/ Terrace Edition. Puteolana 1902.

Between the 1970s and 1980s, two major episodes of ground uplift occurred, with peaks of up to three meters, which led to the evacuation of the historic center of Pozzuoli.

Today, the phenomenon continues, albeit less intensely but steadily. In recent years (2020–2025), a new uplift has occurred, with small earthquakes, prompting monitoring and warning measures from the Civil Protection Department.

Bradyseism makes Pozzuoli unique from a scientific and geological perspective, but it is also a source of concern for the local population.

Pozzuoli residents' opinions on bradyseism vary greatly and depend on factors such as age, past experience, and level of trust in the authorities.

Many residents, especially those who experienced the earthquakes of the 1980s, are increasingly anxious about the recent seismic swarms and the ongoing uplift.

They fear a possible eruption or serious damage to their homes. Another segment of the population, especially the elderly, tends to say, "It's always been this way."

Having always lived with the phenomenon, they consider bradyseism a normal part of life in Pozzuoli and the Phlegraean Fields.

Despite everything, few want to leave Pozzuoli. The connection to their land, culture, and history is very strong.

Even those who are worried often say, "I'm not leaving. This is my home." Among residents, there's a fragile balance between fear, habit, and love for the land, with a growing focus on prevention and information.

In Pozzuoli, there's a strong attachment to their land, which goes far beyond the rationality of risk. This attachment is expressed in various ways:

Deep cultural identity: Pozzuoli's millennia-long history—volcanoes, Romans, earthquakes, and the sea—makes those who live there feel part of something unique.

Family and community ties: Many Pozzuoli residents have families rooted there for generations. The houses, alleys, and squares are not just physical spaces, but places of memory, relationships, and identity.

Traditions and everyday life: Food, religion, popular festivals.

Conflict between love and risk: This bond, however, is often fraught with tension: one lives in an unstable beauty, knowing that the land is fragile. Yet this very awareness increases the sense of rootedness, almost like an act of resistance.

“The earth may shake here, but we're staying. This is our home.”

Sports also endure, and football in particular endures strongly in Pozzuoli, and is an integral part of the city's identity, just like the sea and bradyseism.

The footballing powerhouse in Pozzuoli is the historic Puteolana 1902, one of the oldest football clubs in Southern Italy.

Founded in the early 20th century by employees of the English Armstrong shipyard, it has played for several seasons in Serie C, Serie D, and amateur leagues.

Fans are deeply attached to the team, which represents a symbol of belonging. Even when the club has faced financial difficulties or changed its name, popular support has never been lacking, albeit in reduced numbers.

The stadium, the Domenico Conte, which stands at the foot of one of the most recent volcanoes in the Campi Flegrei: Monte Nuovo, formed during the 1538 eruption, is a symbolic place where sport and identity merge.

Although the team often plays in lower divisions, matches are opportunities for young people and especially the elderly to come together, reliving the best moments of what was once one of the most important teams in southern Italy.

In a context where the land is fragile and the future uncertain (due to bradyseism), football becomes: A form of normality, a refuge: "We're still here, and we fight on the pitch too."

"The earth may shake, but the garnet shirt never falls." Football in Pozzuoli also represents resistance, identity, and love for the land. One of the many ways the city continues to live and fight, between history and hope.

PUTEOLANA, with its troubled history, seems to mirror the city's essence: resilient, passionate, tested but never broken. Its history of ups and downs, rebirths and uncertainties, reflects the same fortitude with which Pozzuoli faces bradyseism, crises, and daily life.

A team that fights in the background, in silence, under the dim lights of major football, but with a gigantic heart. Like Pozzuoli, which despite the risks, continues to live, create, love, and endure.

In both cases, beauty lies not in perfection, but in tenacity. In standing firm even when everything around us is sometimes literally shaky.

Puteolana, like Pozzuoli, says: "I was there. I am there. I will be there." This phrase, today, is perhaps the most powerful statement of identity a community can have.

Gennaro is on Instagram: @serapeo.

Puteolana 1902 are on Instagram: @puteolana.1902

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