LUCULLUS, MEGARIDE AND THE MAGIC EGG

The most famous villa in the gulf of Naples is the one of Lucullus, former lieutenant of Silla who decided to retire from public life to engage to the “otium” in his luxurious Neapolitan residence.

He chose the islet of Megaride to build a palace on the sea, embracing the territory of the ancient Palepolis up to the promontory of Pizzofalcone. His villa passed to history as Castrum Lucullanum, an immense property where objects of art were collected, with a precious library and sumptuous gardens with tanks for the breeding of moray eels. Here were organized the famous "lucullian lunches", lavish banquets that lasted more than one day.

An ancient legend tells us, however, that he violated the home of the ocean nymphs, to make his own dwelling: he wanted for himself the meadows, the groves of roses, the edges that sloped slightly in the sea; he drove out the sirens and put there his beautiful slaves. In the Middle Ages the rich dwelling was sacked by Vandals and Ostrogoths and, on its ruins, some hermits found refuge in the V century A.D., while Odoacre held there the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustolus, as a prisoner.

Later, the Normans built on the same islet the imposing castle that took the name of Egg Castle, as it was believed that there was kept the magic egg of the great poet Virgil. The rest is history…