San Lorenzo Maggiore

La Neapolis Sotterrata

Useful Information

Location:	Piazza S. Gaetano, 316, Napoli. City center of Naples, nearest metro stop is Piazza Cavour. No parking, use public transport. (40.850778, 14.257549)
Open:	All year daily 9:30-17:30. [2025]
Fee:	Adults EUR 9, Children (6-17) EUR 6, Children (0-5) free, Students EUR 7, Seniors (65+) EUR 7, Teachers EUR 7. Groups: School Pupils EUR 4. [2025]
Classification:	Underground Museum Cryptoporticus
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	underground no, museum and church yes
Bibliography:
Address:	San Lorenzo Maggiore, Piazza San Gaetano 316, Napoli, Tel: +39-081-211-0860. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

5th century BC	greek colonial city constructed, earliest remains of the site.
1st century AD	Greek city becomes Roman city and central square is transformed into a Roman forum.
5th century AD	forum filled in, used to build houses.
13th century	convent and Gothic basilica built and remaining surface structures destroyed.

Description

Beneath the church San Lorenzo Maggiore lies a much older building, which today forms the backbone of La Neapolis Sotterrata (The Buried New City). The name is a reference that the city was founded around 470 BC as the second Greek colony city in the area. The first is Parthenope near Cumae, and so this new city was called Neapolis (new city) while Parthenope was soon called Palaepolis (old city). Bordered by the yellow tufo stone walls and red brick archways, the ancient Forum of Neapolis, dating from the 1st century AD, can be visited. And the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore is the entrance to the underground archaeological site. They are perfectly preserved and allow a glimpse into the Greco-Roman origins of the city.

The self-guided tour starts above ground, in a four-storey museum containing slabs of marble with clearly visible and very detailed Latin inscriptions. There are cross-sections of columns and many wine amphorae. The items on display were mostly excavated right below the museum and the church. From the museum an elevator brings the visitors down to the underground site.

The underground rooms resemble the excavations at Pompeji and Herculaneum. There are the remains of mosaic tile floors and the public laundry, which is a large stone wash basin. This is actually the forum, the central marketplace of the city as it was created when the Greek colony city became Roman. Before there had been a Greek agora at the same place, with more or less the same function. So while the forum dates from the 1st century AD, there are also some remains of the older Greek city which go back to 5th century BC. So there is a road, a stenopos, which is covered by a pavement from the 5th century AD.

There was a hillside with a slope and so the square actually had two levels, which were separated by the decumanus maximus (main street) which is today’s Via dei Tribunali. The upper level to the north was the political center of the city, the southern lower level was the center of commercial activities. Both were connected by a flight of steps. As the church San Lorenzo Maggiore is located on the southern side and the excavations are below the church, they actually show only the commercial part of the forum. One main building in the south was the Macellum of Naples, a macellum is an ancient Roman indoor food market building, especially selling meat and fish. Such a macellum was modeled after the agora of Greek and Hellenistic cities. It is easily identified by its design, with shops arranged around a courtyard which contains a central tholos. The tholos is a circular building destined for food selling, with steps leading up to a circular plateau with a ring of columns supporting a domed roof. It has water supply and drains, and as fish skeletons were excavate in such structures, archaeologists think that this was where fish was sold. But there is also the theory that the tholos was the place where official weights and measures were held for reference or it had shrines of the gods of the marketplace. In the surrounding nine tabernae (shops) there were some with marble walls and counters and drains, which are generally considered to be butcher shops. They actually resemble modern butcher shops which typically have tiled walls. Another has a kiln and containers for dyeing fabrics.

Nearby is a cryptoporticus, which is sometimes interpreted as covered market. Such structures are typically a sort of basement which was built to make a slope level. Instead of filling in a large area, which was a lot of hard work without modern machinery, they built a series of small connected rooms with vaulted ceilings and flat roof which became the square. The height differed, but the higher part was often used for shops with brick counters for displaying goods. Others were used as storage rooms, wine cellars or the erarium, where the city treasure was kept.

The whole complex was the forum, the central square of a city. In other words, 2,000 years ago these buildings were above ground, this is not an underground structure. It was covered by centuries of city development, and as there is now the monastery built on top, the archaeological excavation is underground. There is little information in English, but the museum offers an English-language sheet with some details about the museum and a map of the underground. There are also tours which are optional and cost a small additional fee. They start at fixed times, and there are six tours in Italian and four in English every day.

The church is part of a 14th-century monastery, which is also worth a visit. Today it is a hotel offering rooms which face the central courtyard. The church is younger, it was rebuilt during the 18th century, and contains several chapels, frescoes and original wooden doors. Admission to the church is free.