One of the most interesting places to visit during the Naples Underground tours is the beautiful Franciscan Gothic Church of San Lorenzo Maggiore, which is one of the city's most important religious buildings; it was founded around 1300 at the behest of Charles I of Anjou and his successors, and was erected on the remains of Roman structures.
The site of the church corresponds to the ancient main square of the Greek city and to the Roman Forum, at the intersection between the two main roads that intersected at right angles and formed the heart of the urban agglomeration. Above ground you can still see the columns of the Temple of the Dioscuri, which are now located in front of the Church of San Paolo Maggiore's façade.
About seven meters below San Lorenzo, you can find traces of the commercial and civil functions of the ancient city's main square. The remains of the central market can easily be recognized, with workshops erected on robust Greek bases from the fourth century BC, as well as the treasury, where the coins constituting the city's finances were kept.
FUN FACT: Giovanni Boccaccio met the most important woman in his life in San Lorenzo: Maria d'Aquino, who was the natural daughter of Robert of Anjou. She was the model for the famous Fiammetta, the protagonist of the Decameron.
