The city of Rome has been around for a long time. According to legend, it was founded over 2,700 years ago and became the most powerful city in the Western world. Volcanic materials are integral to many of the structures, both as building stone and a key ingredient to the remarkably durable Roman concrete. It is no coincidence that Rome is surrounded by volcanic features, some of which have produced cataclysmic eruptions over the past 500,000 years. Welcome to the Roman Magmatic Province.
Rome itself, astride the Tiber River, is flanked by two volcanic calderas. To the south sits Colli Albani while on the city’s north side sits Sabatini. As you trek further north, you reach more calderas, including Vico and Vulsini. Being calderas, they lack that distinctive volcanic shape people picture when they hear the word “volcano”. These don’t look like Vesuvius as it towers over Naples today. Instead, they are subdued features that hide their explosive nature.
