Naples (Italy) and its immediate surroundings preserve an archaeological heritage of inestimable value and among the best in the world. For example, the archaeological park of the Phlegraean Fields (Cumae, Baiae, the Flavian Amphitheatre and the Pozzuoli forum) is directly connected to the centre of Naples through the Cumana railway, and the nearby sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis are among the World Heritage Sites of UNESCO.

Despite the ancient city being largely buried by the extensive modern city, remains are preserved in many places. Parthènope, the first settlement founded by the Cumaeans of Naples on the Pizzofalcone hill in the 8th century BC,Daniela Giampaola, Francesca Longobardo, Naples Greek and Roman, Electa Naples 2000 has left only a few traces, such as the 7th century BC necropolis and the stretch of a wall in the Town Hall square, probably belonging to the port.

Much more visible is the 6th c. BC Greek and later Roman city of Neapolis, partly due to the relatively recent underground extension, which includes many archaeological sites and finds preserved in various city archaeological museums.

Urban layout

Much of the rectangular street grid of the 6th century BC is still followed by modern streets.

The Greek system of three main roads parallel to each other, called plateiai (decumani in the Roman era), cross the urban centre dividing it into four parts. These streets were cut perpendicularly from north to south by smaller streets called stenopoi of which there were up to 24.Jelardi A., Strade, personaggi e storie di Napoli, Guida Editore (2007)

The 3 decumani are, from west to east: Superior: consisting of Via Sapienza, Via Pisanelli, and Via Anticaglia Maximus: Via dei Tribunali Inferior: Via Spaccanapoli, consisting of Via Benedetto Croce and Via San Biagio dei Librai.

The agora was located at the centre of the Decumanus Maximus. The agora underlying the Piazza San Gaetano was divided in two by the main street where on the north side, near the temple of the Dioscuri (today Basilica of San Paolo Maggiore), religious functions took place while on the south side was the market, the aerarium and other public buildings. The excavations of San Lorenzo Maggiore which can be visited show the remains of the agora.

In the Roman period the lower decumanus was lengthened towards the southwest from Piazza del Gesù Nuovo up to via Domenico Capitelli.

Main Sites

Roman theatre

The theatre was one of the glories of Neapolis according to Augustus, the guardian of Hellenic culture.

History Claudius had plays performed here in honour of his beloved brother Germanicus.Donato Fasolini, Aggiornamento bibliografico ed epigrafico ragionato sull'imperatore Claudio, Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 2006Suetonius: Claudius 11 In 64 AD Nero performed here.Tacitus, Annales 15. 33 Naples prided itself on its Greek origins and Greek culture. Nero took his appearances on stage seriously, practicing, engaging in the strenuous voice-exercises, learning his performance. He had just started to sing when a violent earthquake occurred that he interpreted as the gods' appreciation so continued to sing and forced the audience to stay.Suetonius, Nero 20 The theatre collapsed afterwards.

The theatre was renovated during the late 1st century and in the 2nd century. Statius in the Flavian age exalts in the temples and a large arcaded square (perhaps the Forum) and refers to two large theatres in the city, the open and the covered one, located in the upper part of the Forum, behind the sacred area of the temple of the Dioscuri.Statius Silvae 3.5

The fall of the Roman Empire also marked the fall of theatrical performances in general and the structure was abandoned, also after a flood between the 5th and 6th centuries.

The mediaeval period saw the oblivion of the structure, used first as a small necropolis (datable to the 7th century) or landfill and finally, between the 15th and 17th centuries it was overwhelmed by the construction of buildings on the cavea.Bartolommeo Capasso, Napoli graeco-romana, Tipografia Luigi Pierro & Figlio, 1905

The interiors were used as stables, cellars, warehouses and shops until recently. First discoveries took place in 1859 for the excavation of a sewer. The first archaeological excavation was at the end of the 19th century in the garden of the building at the centre of the theatre. The first recovery plan dates to 1939 but only from 1997 was the theatre partially unveiled, and from 2003 the cavea was revealed in the internal garden.Ida Baldassarre et al., Il teatro di Neapolis: scavo e recupero urbano Napoli: Università degli studi di Napoli "L'Orientale", 2010.

Remains The theatre lies between via Anticaglia to the north, via San Paolo to the west and vico Giganti to the east. Dating to the 1st century BC, it was built over a previous Greek building of the 4th century BC, also probably intended for theatrical performance. Unlike the Odeon which stood next to it and was intended for particular musical events, the theatre was uncovered.

Its structure has been used in the walls of present houses and the overall structure and many elements are still visible. A large part of the centre of the theatre is visible in an open area between a number of houses.

Two massive arches in via Anticaglia were reinforcement for the outside of the theatre and are incorporated into existing buildings.

The cavea had 5-6000 seats. The visible part is lower central cavea and includes one of the vomitoria still used for accessing the theatre. The summa cavea, the highest part, has been lost. The entrance to the cavea is from Via San Paolo through an ancient shop in the courtyard of a 15th-century building.

Neapolis City Walls

The first walls of Neapolis date from the 6th century BC. Remains are largely buried beneath the modern city but can be seen in several places where they have been brought to light.

The blocks were extracted from a vast quarry of the Greek age located in Poggioreale; it was identified by chance in 1987 following subsidence under the Pianto cemetery below the square of the church of Santa Maria del Pianto. The quarry has horizontal ridges corresponding to the height of the blocks and, surprisingly, the characteristic alphabetical marks of the ancient quarrymen. From the quarry the blocks were transported to the city along the straight line of via Nuova Poggioreale to via Casanova to enter Naples from the ancient gate where Castel Capuano is now located.

The Greek walls

The Greek walls followed the edges of the plateau on which Neapolis stands and the natural valleys that surrounded the town formed defensive slopes.Bartolommeo Capasso, Napoli graeco-romana, Pierro&figli, 1905 The walls had a reputation for impregnability, confirmed by historical sources after the Hannibalic war (218-202 BC) and during the Gothic War (535–554) AD.

Several building phases have been recognised:

The first phase of the foundation of Neapolis (end of the 6th century BC) is distinguished by the use of grainy grey tuff orthostates. The wall was partly a single curtain which followed the crest of the hills, and otherwise a double curtain reinforced by internal wall braces which created cells that were filled with tuff rubble. The "keyed" type of masonry with overlapping blocks also belongs to this first phase.

The second phase of the 4th century BC (connected to the Samnite wars) is characterised instead by the use of compact yellow tuff blocks. It has a curtain wall with transverse braces in the same technique, built against the walls of the first phase which thus becomes the inner curtain. Characteristic of the second phase walls are quarry signs, single letters or links in the Greek alphabet which were carved on the individual blocks during quarrying.

Recent excavations have identified modifications of other phases dating to the third century BC.

The Roman walls

The dry tuff wall built by the Greeks was altered in Roman times; they used harder Piperno for the external wall and an internal curtain in tuff.

The walls did not undergo significant enlargements until Valentinian III (440 AD) built an extension towards the port area, attested by an inscription found in 1747 and by the recent finds of walls in Corso Umberto and in possibly part of the Byzantine fortification in Piazza Bovio.

The walls initially survived intact during the Gothic War (535–554) but they were partly razed after the city's surrender to the Ostrogith Totila after the Siege of Naples (542–43).

Remains The Cippo a Forcella in Piazza Calenda, erroneously called "Cippo" due to its shape of a large pillar, is the most ancient gatepost found so far, perhaps from the 6th century BC, from the Herculanensis gate (later called Porta Furcilla). The walls in Piazza Calenda are made up of large blocks of tuff that form a double curtain with transverse connecting braces. The walls continue below the road surface and the nearby cinema (not visible). The square was created after the discovery of the ancient walls, for whose protection the Superintendency sited nearby buildings backwards. Built inside the nearby Teatro del Popolo (Trianon Viviani) is a tower from the walls. The walls in Piazza Bellini were discovered in 1954. The ancient level was about 10 m lower than today, and this stretch of wall ran along the edge of a hill now completely levelled, and at the top of a valley now also filled (via Costantinopoli - via San Sebastiano). Scholars disagree in dating this stretch of walls: once it was all dated to the 4th century BC as an extension of the walls found in via del Sole; today it is considered to be of the 5th century BC, strengthened in the 4th century BC; but digs in 1984 did not confirm the 4th c. date and the problem therefore remains open. The walls excavated in the church of Sant'Agnello Maggiore are displayed in the nave. The walls nearby in Piazza Cavour (behind the Salvator Rosa school building) are almost entirely second phase; they have a scarp and stepped foundations and are preserved to a height of 9.2 m. A short distance from them, in the 1950s another 10 m high wall was found in a rear position, probably of the first phase, which was destroyed for the construction of the Maria Longo Ramp (few surviving remains). The walls and the lower decumanus displayed inside Palazzo Saluzzo di Corigliano in the "Aula Mura Greche" probably date to the 4th century BC. The Roman walls are visible in vico Santa Maria Vertecoeli at numbers 15, 17, 21 and 22 incorporated into modern buildings; they are important because they indicate the north eastern limit of the walls of that period.

Archaeological area of the Naples Metro: Piazza del Municipio (Town Hall)

The excavations of the Municipio station have proved so fruitful that they have been described by archaeologists as the "wells of St. Patrick".Ciro Crescentini, I cantieri della metro di Napoli? Pozzi di "san Patrizio", Napolionline.org. In this excavation alone many thousands of ceramic fragments have been found. The result has been a combination of station and archaeological park with many of the ancient remains preserved in-situ.

The first discovery in 2003 was a 10 m-long boat of the 2nd century AD, found upside down and very similar to the one in Herculaneum in 1982. This made it possible to precisely define the ancient coastline.Evoluzione del paesaggio costiero tra Parthenopee Neapolis, Vittoria Carsana https://www.academia.edu/10805824/Evoluzione_del_paesaggio_costiero_tra_Parthenopee_Neapolis