Complesso di San Lorenzo Maggiore

The archaeological area, in which the remains of the ancient Forum of Neapolis are visible, represents the most significant archaeological site in the historic centre of Naples. It is of considerable importance due to its monumental and topographical value, as well as its inclusion within the Angevin complex of San Lorenzo Maggiore.

The irregular basin of Piazza San Gaetano represents the surviving portion of a larger open space that served as the civil and religious centre of the ancient city. This area has long been recognised as the Forum of the Roman age, which in turn corresponds to the Greek city's agora. Archaeological investigations have demonstrated that the layout of the Roman period, which can be dated to the 1st century AD, in fact traced an older organisational structure.

As early as the 5th century BC, a square had been designed in the centre of the Greco-Roman settlement, exploiting the slope of the hill and distributed on two levels, upstream and downstream of the plateia (main street), corresponding to the present-day Via Tribunali. The necessary construction of retaining walls and a flight of steps connected the lower area, destined for commercial activities, with the upper part, reserved for political functions.
The archaeological area now extends approximately 10 metres below the Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore. The eighteenth-century cloister, which forms part of the macellum, the Roman market, allows the visitor to gain insight into the structure that existed in the second half of the first century AD. The market consisted of a rectangular porticoed space, with shops opening onto it, and an uncovered inner courtyard paved with mosaics. In the centre of this courtyard was a tholos, a circular building used for the sale of foodstuffs.

However, it is the lower levels of the excavation that elucidate the intricate structural organisation of the entire area. The route of a road, a stenopos, was subsequently identified as the cardo (hinge) of Neapolis. It was uncovered below the transept of the church, which was covered by a pavement dating back to the Greek period. The ancient street ran along the eastern side of an articulated Roman building, which, spread over three wings, also served as an artificial support for the terrace above, on which the market was located. This terrace was situated at the same level as the lower portion of the Forum. The edifice comprised a series of nine workshops (tabernae), each comprising two barrel-vaulted rooms open to the street. These spaces were utilised for commercial and craft activities, including the presence of an oven and tanks for dyeing fabrics. At the conclusion of the passageway, situated to the right, one encounters the cryptoporticus, a covered market space that has been subdivided into smaller rooms with masonry counters for the display of goods. The exception to this was only three of the structures, which are thought to have constituted the erarium, where the city treasury was kept. This configuration remained in place until the latter years of the fifth century AD, when the area was filled with alluvial deposits, marking the beginning of a series of transformations that culminated in the construction of the monastery and Gothic basilica in the thirteenth century. These developments ultimately resulted in the complete obliteration of all previous structures.