The lake lies below the Cumae-Naples road, dark and still within a deep crater surrounded by wooded hillsides. It probably seemed even more unfathomable in antiquity when the birds flying overhead were overcome by fumes and dropped into the lake to be swallowed up. It even prompted Virgil to make it the entrance to the Underworld. Under the Roman Empire, it was developed as a naval base and an underground gallery known as Grotta di Cocceio, it was tunnelled to enable the chariots to reach Cumae. Nowadays, it provides a pleasant spot for visitors.