Macellum of Naples, Ancient Roman market beneath San Lorenzo Maggiore church in Naples, Italy.

The Macellum of Naples is a Roman market structure beneath San Lorenzo Maggiore church featuring rows of stone shop spaces arranged around a central courtyard. Original mosaic floors and the preserved layout of trading areas still visible today document how this commercial center functioned.

The site began as the Greek agora of Neapolis in the 5th or 4th century BC, with tufa-block foundations from the 4th century BC. When Neapolis became Roman, the area was transformed into a macellum, and an imperial-era complex of the 1st century AD was built over the Greek remains. A mudslide in the 5th century AD buried the market, and a 6th-century early Christian basilica was later built above it.

The market layout reveals how Romans organized commerce with separate zones for different types of goods and services. Walking through these halls, you sense how daily trading and business operated in this ancient port city.

Access is through the church above, where stairs lead down into the underground rooms. The passages are narrow and sometimes dimly lit, so sturdy shoes and a flashlight are helpful for exploring.

The mudslide that buried the macellum in the 5th century AD preserved it, and the early Christian basilica built over it was later replaced by the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore. Excavation began in 1976, and a second campaign, halted repeatedly for lack of funds, ended in May 2009 with European Union funding, doubling the area open since 1993.