Neapolis Underground Neapolis Schedule Tickets Location | Authorizations
Neapolis Roman Forum | Cardine and Macellum | The Shops | The Tavern
The Greek Stenopos or Roman Cardine of the underground Neapolis in Naples
The Cardine of Underground Neapolis When you enter the underground Neapolis, you find yourself facing a long Greek street, a Stenopos, which was one of the twenty parallel north-south streets that crossed the east-west Decumani.
When the Roman Forum was built on the foundations of the Greek Agora, the Romans retained the grid-like layout of the Greek streets, which became Roman Cardines.
The Roman Cardine, which you will be able to see during your visit, lies over the Greek Stenopos and ran alongside the eastern side of the Macellum.
It measures nearly sixty metres in length by three metres in width and features various shops (Tabernae) and the Erario, where public funds were kept.
The Erario of the underground Neapolis
Erario, the treasury of Neapolis The Erario was located in this Cardine, just before the shops.
The Erario was where the city’s treasury—comprising public funds—was kept, as this was where people paid their taxes.
The entrance to the Erario is surmounted by a large lintel topped with a pointed brick projection.
A large window opens to the right of this entrance.
Large notches are visible on the inner sides of this window; they corresponded to the position of the grille that protected the Erario window from potential thieves.
The Macellum of Underground Neapolis
Cryptoporticus of the Underground Neapolis The Macellum was the city’s food market; the Macellum that you can visit today dates from the second half of the first century, beneath which traces of Greek structures dating from the 4th century BC can still be found.
It was situated in the lower part of the Roman Forum.
Here, fruit, vegetables, meat and fish were sold to the throngs of customers who thronged its streets, enlivened by the cries of the traders extolling their rich and varied wares for preparing the fine dishes enjoyed by the wealthy Romans in the surrounding villas.
Taberna or shop in the underground Neapolis The entrance to the Macellum was situated on the Via Decumanus Maggiore, which corresponds to the present-day Via dei Tribunali.
Its four sides were built in terraces to adapt to the uneven ground.
Situated beneath the Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore, this superbly preserved macellum represents one of the rare examples of what Roman commercial architecture might have been like in the 1st century.
The Tholos of the Underground Neapolis This Macellum measured 70 metres long by nearly 40 metres wide and consisted of a rectangular portico lined with shops surrounding a vast esplanade paved with mosaics, at the centre of which stood the Tholos, a circular building raised on a flight of steps.
The Tholos was topped by a dome with a central fountain and a portico: the base of the Tholos, with three steps and a terracotta conduit, is still visible in the cloister of San Lorenzo Maggiore, built in the 18th century.
Neapolis Roman Forum | Cardine and Macellum | The Shops | The Tavern
Neapolis Underground Neapolis Schedule Tickets Location | Authorizations
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