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Hidden gemHub · 3 stops4th c. BC – 7th c. ADTicketed

Capua – Santa Maria Capua Vetere

Capua antica, Colonia Iulia Felix

city · Campania, Italy

What it is
Capua was one of the largest cities of ancient Italy, and its remains lie under and around the modern town of Santa Maria Capua Vetere in the province of Caserta.
What you’ll see
The Roman city lies beneath the modern one, so Capua is visited as a set of separate stops, not as one field of ruins. The centre of it all is the amphitheatre.
Worth the trip?
Yes, for the amphitheatre and the Mithraeum. In 2024 the amphitheatre, the Arch of Hadrian and the museum area with the Mithraeum were recognised as World Heritage by UNESCO, as part of the "Via Appia.
Getting there & cost
Santa Maria Capua Vetere has a station on the Rome–Naples railway via Cassino, and the Alifana line has a stop called Anfiteatro. By car, the A1 motorway has a Santa Maria Capua Vetere exit (it.wikipedia).Ticketed · One ticket covers the Anfiteatro Campano, the Republican amphitheatre, the Museo dei Gladiatori and the Mithraeum · checked 21 October 2026Hours, tickets and parking
A wide paved square with benches and tall street lamps, people strolling, and beyond a line of autumn trees the ruined arcades of the amphitheatre, with mountains on the horizon.
The amphitheatre seen across a square in the modern town. · Photo: Dom De Felice e Carla Nunziata · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The surviving section of the amphitheatre's outer wall, a row of arches in pale stone with a broken upper storey of brick piers above, behind clipped hedges, trees and scattered stone blocks.
The Anfiteatro Campano, second in size only to the Colosseum. · Photo: Rico Heil · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A long, low vaulted underground room with raised benches along both side walls and a large wall painting filling the far end.
The Mithraeum's cult room; the operator describes the painting at the end as Mithras slaying the bull. · Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The stops

3 places to see, the best preserved and best known first.

See all 3 stops on the mapWhere each one is, so you can plan your own way round.Open the map →
  2. The tomb seen close up from below. A square lower storey with a rounded turret at each corner and recessed panels and niches in its faces carries a round upper drum ringed with arched niches and a low domed top; the walls are faced with small grey stones and edged with red brick.

    Photo: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    tomb · Campania

    Mausoleum of the Conocchia

    What you see is the outside of the tomb, standing on its own by a main road among modern buildings.

    Free

Capua was one of the largest cities of ancient Italy, and its remains lie under and around the modern town of Santa Maria Capua Vetere in the province of Caserta. The reason to come is the Anfiteatro Campano, second in size only to the Colosseum, and a painted underground shrine of Mithras a few streets away.

What is there today

The Roman city lies beneath the modern one, so Capua is visited as a set of separate stops, not as one field of ruins. The centre of it all is the amphitheatre. The operator describes it standing in a park with other remains of the Roman town: the Republican amphitheatre that came before it, probably the first Roman amphitheatre built in masonry, an octagonal building of the imperial period and a curved portico in front of the great arena. Next door, the Museo dei Gladiatori has copies of gladiators’ armour found at Pompeii, a model of the amphitheatre and a reconstructed section of its seating with the marble decoration (cultura.gov.it). About 300 m away, the Arch of Hadrian spanned the Appian Way and formed an entrance to the city. It had three openings, and three piers and one side arch still stand (it.wikipedia).

About 700 m south of the amphitheatre, the Mithraeum, an underground shrine of Mithras with a painted cult room, is on the amphitheatre’s ticket; the amphitheatre page describes it and gives its booking rules. East of the town, along the Via Appia, stand two Roman tombs just over 600 m apart: the Conocchia at Curti, a tall tomb built in stacked storeys, and the Carceri Vecchie at San Prisco, a two-storey tomb of the first century AD with a vaulted burial chamber, where a small chapel was built in place of the original entrance in the 19th century (it.wikipedia). Both can be seen from outside; the Conocchia’s chamber opens only on days the Soprintendenza announces, the Carceri Vecchie’s on request (cultura.gov.it).

Other remains are scattered through the town (it.wikipedia):

  • a cryptoporticus that bordered the forum, inside the former convent of San Francesco, now used by the university;
  • a first-century basin (castellum aquae) that collected and settled the water of the aqueduct from Monte Tifata;
  • the Domus of Via degli Orti, a wealthy house with a garden, a marble-floored dining room and a monumental fountain;
  • the Domus of Confuleius, a freedman’s house with mosaic floors and inscriptions, under a private apartment block on Corso Aldo Moro.

The two houses lie under modern buildings and are normally closed to the public. The Soprintendenza opens them on days it announces: in 2014 it ran a January-to-March programme of free openings of the Domus of Confuleius, the Domus of Via degli Orti and the Officina dei Bronzi, and the Domus of Confuleius opened again for the European Heritage Days in 2023 and, free, for Appia Day in September 2024 (cultura.gov.it). Watch the ministry’s event listings if you want to see it. No source says whether the cryptoporticus or the basin can be visited. The Museo archeologico dell’antica Capua incorporates a tower that stood on the remains of the Capitolium, at the south end of the ancient forum (cultura.gov.it), but it has been closed for works since February 2026.

Is it worth the trip?

Yes, for the amphitheatre and the Mithraeum. In 2024 the amphitheatre, the Arch of Hadrian and the museum area with the Mithraeum were recognised as World Heritage by UNESCO, as part of the “Via Appia. Regina Viarum” serial site (it.wikipedia). The arch and the Mithraeum are both within a short walk of the amphitheatre, and one ticket covers the amphitheatre, the gladiator museum and the Mithraeum, so a half day here is well spent.

Plan ahead for the Mithraeum, which opens only by booking and to few visitors a day; the amphitheatre page has the details. The houses under the modern town open only on occasional announced days, so do not build a visit around them. The two tombs on the Appia lie about 2 and 2.5 km east of the amphitheatre, so they are easier by car or bike than on foot.

One thing to know before you set off: the town called Capua on today’s map is not this one. It is the place survivors moved to after the ancient city was sacked in 841, on the site of the Roman river port of Casilinum (it.wikipedia). Ancient Capua is Santa Maria Capua Vetere.

Getting there

Santa Maria Capua Vetere has a station on the Rome–Naples railway via Cassino, and the Alifana line has a stop called Anfiteatro. By car, the A1 motorway has a Santa Maria Capua Vetere exit (it.wikipedia). OpenStreetMap shows a car park about 250 m from the amphitheatre and a bus stop named Arco di Adriano next to the arch.

Opening hours, prices and how to buy the ticket and book the Mithraeum are on the amphitheatre page. The Carceri Vecchie can be visited on request by phoning +39 0823 844206 (cultura.gov.it).

Visiting details

Opening hours
The Anfiteatro Campano's hours and the Mithraeum's booking rules are on the amphitheatre page. The Carceri Vecchie opens on request (+39 0823 844206). The Conocchia's burial chamber opens only on days the Soprintendenza announces. The Domus of Confuleius and the Domus of Via degli Orti are normally closed and open only on announced days.
Tickets
One ticket covers the Anfiteatro Campano, the Republican amphitheatre, the Museo dei Gladiatori and the Mithraeum; prices are on the amphitheatre page. The special openings of the Domus of Confuleius announced in 2014 and for Appia Day 2024 were free.
Parking
A car park, also mapped as a camper stop, about 250 m from the amphitheatre (OSM way/160570599).

Before you go

  • The Roman houses under the modern town, among them the Domus of Confuleius, are normally closed to the public and open only on special days the Soprintendenza announces.

Hours and prices checked 21 October 2026 on the operator's own site. Confirm before travelling.

History

Capua probably grew out of Villanovan villages of the 9th century BC and was Etruscan and then Oscan before it was Roman (it.wikipedia). Under siege by the Samnites in the 4th century BC, when it was probably the largest city in Italy, it gave itself up to Rome for protection. In 338 BC it became a civitas sine suffragio, a community with Roman citizenship but no vote, and it kept its own laws, language and senate. From 312 BC the Via Appia connected it directly to Rome (it.wikipedia; en.wikipedia).

After the Roman defeat at Cannae, Capua sided with Hannibal, and his army spent the winter there. Rome retook the city in 211 BC after two sieges and confiscated its land (it.wikipedia). It recovered as a maker of luxury goods (perfumes, bronzes, pottery) and built a theatre, porticoes and the first amphitheatre. Its gladiator school, tied to the amphitheatre, was where the revolt led by Spartacus began in 73 BC. In 59 BC Caesar refounded the city as Colonia Iulia Felix and settled 20,000 colonists on its land, and Cicero called it altera Roma, “the other Rome”. Hadrian completed the new amphitheatre with statues, columns and marble and gave the city a triumphal arch (it.wikipedia).

Constantine made Capua the seat of the governor of Campania. Under Ostrogothic rule the governor Lampadius had the amphitheatre restored, and after the Gothic War the city was retaken by the Eastern Romans after 553 (it.wikipedia). In 841 Saracen mercenaries sacked it. Most of the survivors left and in 856 founded the new Capua at Casilinum. Those who stayed fortified the amphitheatre (it.wikipedia). The modern town grew slowly from hamlets around the early Christian basilicas, and took the name Santa Maria Capua Vetere, “Old Capua”, in 1862 (it.wikipedia).

More photographs

A tall brick arch on a base of stone blocks and, to its left, a free-standing brick pier with niches, standing beside a road among modern houses.
The Arch of Hadrian, which spanned the Appian Way into the city. · Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A low yellow building with a columned porch and the words Museo dei Gladiatori over it, in a garden of palms and grass with fragments of stone set along the paths.
The Museo dei Gladiatori beside the amphitheatre. · Photo: Codas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

  • A long, low ruin of rubble masonry with a row of dark arched openings and patches of red brick, seen across a wide field of mown, straw-coloured grass under a cloudy sky.

    Photo: PietroCifone · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    16 km · city · Campania

    Cales

    The ancient town survives across its whole extent, though the motorway runs through it, and the Ministry of Culture says plainly that its remains are not easy to read on the ground (cultura.gov.it).

  • A wide, low hall cut into pale tuff, its flat ceiling held up by thick piers of living rock that are lined with rows of empty burial niches, lit by small lamps set on the floor.

    Photo: Dominik Matus · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    24 km · necropolis · Campania

    Catacombs of San Gennaro

    The catacombs lie on two levels, side by side rather than stacked, and both are unusually spacious, unlike the better-known catacombs of Rome, because the tuff was easy to cut and strong enough to stand (the operator).

  • A long, low barrel-vaulted corridor cut into rough rock, lit by a row of small lamps along the ceiling, with a level earth floor running away into the dark.

    Photo: Mentnafunangann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

    25 km · necropolis · Campania

    Catacombs of Saint Gaudiosus

    The visit starts in the crypt under the church's raised choir, which was once a corridor of the catacomb and is now a chapel with ten side altars, painted with stories of the martyrs by Bernardino Fera (it.wikipedia; the operator).

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Pleiades 432754CC BY
Wikidata Q3136685CC0
Vici.org 1859CC BY-SA (text), CC0 (metadata)
Wikipedia (it) — Capua (città antica)CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (it) — Santa Maria Capua VetereCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (en) — Santa Maria Capua VetereCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (it) — Arco di Adriano (Capua)CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (it) — Domus ConfuleiusCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (it) — Mausoleo della ConocchiaCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (it) — Mausoleo delle Carceri VecchieCC BY-SA 4.0
Ministero della Cultura — Anfiteatro Campano (hours, tickets; the operator's listing)licence not recorded
Ministero della Cultura — Mitreo di Santa Maria Capua Veterelicence not recorded
Ministero della Cultura — Museo archeologico nazionale dell'antica Capualicence not recorded
Ministero della Cultura — Mausoleo delle Carceri Vecchielicence not recorded
Ministero della Cultura — European Heritage Days 2026, openings of the Soprintendenza ABAP Caserta e Benevento including the Conocchialicence not recorded
Ministero della Cultura — Circuito Antica Capua, special free openings of the Domus of Confuleius, the Officina dei Bronzi and the Domus of Via degli Orti (comunicato, 17 January 2014)licence not recorded
Ministero della Cultura — Soprintendenza ABAP Caserta e Benevento, Appia Day 2024 openingslicence not recorded
Ministero della Cultura — European Heritage Days 2023, special opening of the Domus of Confuleiuslicence not recorded