Complesso di San Lorenzo Maggiore and Napoli Sotterrata

The Complesso di San Lorenzo Maggiore stands on Via dei Tribunali in the Centro Storico of Naples, Campania, on the site of the ancient Greek agora and the Roman macellum, the covered market of Neapolis. The Gothic church and cloister were built by the Angevin kings between 1270 and 1313, making it one of the principal medieval religious buildings of the city. Giovanni Boccaccio is traditionally said to have first seen Fiammetta here in 1334, and Petrarch stayed in the convent in the 1340s. The Baroque facade was added in the 18th century, but the apse and interior retain a French-inspired Gothic structure with ambulatory and radiating chapels. The most distinctive part of the visit is Napoli Sotterrata, an underground archaeological walk beneath the church and cloister. Excavations carried out in the 20th century uncovered a stretch of Roman street lined with shops, a bakery, a laundry and the arcaded market hall, resting on the earlier Greek layer. Visitors walk along the ancient paving and view the preserved shop spaces in situ. The museum in the former convent shows architectural fragments and finds, while the cloister and the 14th-century chapter house display medieval frescoes and tombs, including works connected with the Angevin court. The interpretive approach is chronological, moving down through the layers from the Angevin building through Roman Neapolis to the Greek foundations. Conservation work has stabilised the excavated levels and the church fabric, which suffered from earthquakes and later alterations, and the complex remains under active management. Entry is from Via dei Tribunali 316 and an audioguide is included in the ticket. The site is a compact way to see three eras of the city in a single stratigraphic section directly beneath the busy street.