BASILICA DI SAN LORENZO MAGGIORE

The subsoil of the religious complex of San Lorenzo Maggiore contains a clear stratigraphy of the different levels of occupation of the site over time: Greek remains, Roman occupation, and then, in the 6th century, the construction of an early Christian basilica. This was replaced by the present church built from 1270 at the request of King Charles I of Anjou to commemorate the Battle of Benevento. The construction was entrusted to French master builders, whose influence is particularly evident at the chevet: the polygonal apse, surrounded by an ambulatory with radiating chapels, reproduces the models of French Gothic architecture. The interior thus constitutes one of the most significant Gothic ensembles in southern Italy. The façade, on the other hand, is a Baroque addition by the architect Sanfelice in 1742. Do not miss the remains of frescoes by Giotto's disciples in the chapels of the ambulatory and in the right transept(Stories of the Madeleine and Stories of the Virgin). Also in the ambulatory, the funerary monument of Catherine of Habsburg, first wife of Charles the Duke of Calabria, work by the Sienese sculptor Tino di Camaino (first half of the 14th century). High altar decorated with statues and bas-reliefs by Giovanni da Nola, in Renaissance style (around 1530). From the elegant eighteenth-century cloister you can access the museum and the archaeological area. The Museo dell'Opera di San Lorenzo Maggiore extends over four levels: it displays a collection of objects belonging to the religious complex and its basement and covering twenty-five centuries of history, from Greco-Roman antiquity to the Middle Ages and the 19th century. Finally, in the archaeological area, situated at a depth of about ten metres, the remains of the Roman city are quite suggestive: there is the macellum, the ancient market, which was composed of a large rectangular courtyard surrounded by porticoes and on which the tabernae (shops) opened. The area around Piazza San Gaetano corresponded to the Roman forum, the civil, commercial and religious heart of the city. It was located along the decumanus maximus, the main axis of the city, of which the present Via Tribunali has retained its layout. Below the Roman level, the remains of Greek walls made of large blocks of tufa were also excavated. The foundations of the early Christian basilica are also visible. A guided tour in French can be booked on site.