HISTORY

The ancient Neapolis, founded in 470 B.C by Greek colonizers who had previously settled in Cumae, corresponds to that part of the historical centre of the city currently bordered to the north by Via Foria, to the west by Via Costantinopoli and Via San Sebastiano, to the east by Via Carbonara and to the south by Corso Umberto. Within this ancient city, marked by the regular intersection of a network of cardi and decumans, the monumental complex of San Lorenzo Maggiore is located in a special position, where once the agorà (the vital space of the Greek city ,which has later become the Roman Forum) was located.

The square outside the church (Piazza San Gaetano) is now bisected by the decuman of Via dei Tribunali. On the northern side of the square, where the Church of San Paolo Maggiore stands, there was the Dioscuri temple and, at its back, a bit further to the north, the great open-air theatre and the odeon (indoor theatre). The southern side, which partly corresponds to the archeological area of San Lorenzo, represents the com-mercial area of the city. Here once stood a two-story considerable building called the macellum (market): its upper floor coincided with the present elevation of Via dei Tribunali. The building, developed on a rectangular plan, was mostly paved with mosaics and had shops all around, which in turn were sided by a portico. Its perimeter enclosed the area currently occupied by the church of San Lorenzo, together with the 18th-century Cloister of the adjoining Franciscan monastery and its Chapter hall.