L’irregular basin of piazza San Gaetano is what remains of a larger open space corresponding to the civil and religious center of the ancient city: this area has indeed always been recognized as the Roman Forum, which in turn coincides with the agora of the Greek city.
Archaeological investigations have highlighted that the Roman-era arrangement, dating back to the 1st century AD, mirrored an older organization. Already from the 5th century BC, a square was designed in the center of the Greco-Roman settlement which, taking advantage of the slope of the hill, was distributed on two levels, upstream and downstream of the plateia, later decumanus maximus (main street), corresponding to the current via Tribunali, with the necessary construction of retaining walls and a staircase connecting the lower zone, intended for commercial activities, with the upper part, reserved for political functions.
A true archaeological area now extends about 10 meters deep, beneath the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore. Inside the eighteenth-century cloister, part of the macellum, the Roman market, dating back to the second half of the 1st century AD, is visible: it consisted of a rectangular porticoed space, on which shops opened, and an uncovered inner courtyard paved with mosaic, at the center of which was placed a tholos, a circular building intended for the sale of food. However, it is the lower levels of the excavation that clarify the complex structuring of the entire area.
The Greek age is evoked by the layout of a street, a stenopos, later defined as the cardo (main axis) of Neapolis, brought to light beneath the transept of the church, covered by a pavement of the 5th century AD.
The ancient street ran along the eastern side of a complex Roman building which, distributed over three wings, also acted as artificial support for the overlying terrace, on which the market was later positioned, simultaneously helping to define the lower portion of the Forum.
The building consisted of a series of nine shops (tabernae), each composed of two barrel-vaulted rooms open to the street, where commercial and artisanal activities were carried out: a oven and vats for dyeing fabrics have been identified there. At the end of the cardo, on the right, one reaches the cryptoporticus (covered market), subdivided into small hooked rooms with masonry counters for displaying goods.
Only three of them were exceptions, probably constituting the erarium, where the city treasury was kept. This organization remained visible until the last years of the 5th century AD, when, after the area was filled with alluvial layers, subsequent transformations began culminating in the 13th century with the construction of the convent and the Gothic basilica, which entailed the definitive obliteration of all previous structures.
In recent years, a new sector has been added to the traditional path, developing continuously with the area already accessible, connected through a transition room of the portico, with a suggestive route that restores unity to the ancient building.
In this new area, inside a large environment, there is a monumental hydraulic work dating back to the late Hellenistic period, which served to channel the flow of water exploiting the natural slopes. This is followed by three large vaulted rooms communicating with each other and paved with mosaics, the central one hosting a large basin-fountain.
In this refined building brought to light in the southwestern sector of the complex, a preliminary analysis suggests it might be possible to recognize a schola, a seat of sacred or artisan corporations.
The building, articulated from a planimetric point of view, differs from the adjacent mercantile rooms both for greater antiquity and for the presence of valuable wall and floor decorations. Connected to the excavation area is the Museum of the Opera of San Lorenzo Maggiore, set up in the sixteenth-century environments around and in the Civic Tower, which flanks the Basilica.
It presents to the public a real cross-section of Naples’ history from classical times to the nineteenth century. In its scientific setup, in ascending chronological order through the various levels of the building, it spans from archaeological finds of the Greek era to those of the Roman Republic and Imperial age; from the late antique and early Christian to Byzantine testimonies; from the Early Middle Ages and the Swabian and Norman civilizations to the Angevin and Aragonese age, finally reaching the rooms housing the eighteenth-nineteenth-century nativity scenes from the prestigious collection of the convent.
The works are placed in their original contexts to promote the correct and complete understanding of what is exhibited, physically recomposing the spaces in which they were placed and seeking the same light and perspective conditions and purposes for which they were produced.
