San Lorenzo Maggiore

In front of you is the spot where it all began. This little square stands on the site of the agora of Neapolis, the «new city» founded by the Greeks around the 5th century BC, and later of the forum of Roman Naples. Via dei Tribunali, behind you, follows the line of one of its main streets, one of the three decumani.

1A city beneath the city

Beneath the convent of San Lorenzo, 20th-century excavations uncovered a stretch of Roman street lined with shops on both sides: a bakery, a laundry, the covered market or «macellum». They date from the 1st century and can be visited underground today. Naples was not built on its ruins: it grew on top of them, following the very same streets.

2The Franciscan church

In 1235 Pope Gregory IX approved a church dedicated to Saint Lawrence, which was entrusted to the Franciscans. From 1270, Charles I of Anjou, freshly on the throne after defeating Manfred, paid for it to be rebuilt in Gothic style, with an apse by French architects. The facade you see came later: Ferdinando Sanfelice designed it in 1742.

According to Boccaccio himself, it was here, at a Holy Saturday Mass in the 1330s, that he first set eyes on the woman he would call Fiammetta.

The convent was also a meeting place for the city: assemblies of the municipal government were held here.

3What to look for

• The dark stone bell tower, seized in 1647 by Masaniello's followers during the popular revolt.
• Sanfelice's facade, which hides a Gothic church behind it.
• The straight line of Via dei Tribunali, a direct legacy of the Greek city.