San Lorenzo Maggiore: tickets, hours and the Neapolis Sotterrata excavations

Why visit San Lorenzo Maggiore

San Lorenzo Maggiore is the best place to see how Naples grew: the Greek city, then the Roman city, then the Middle Ages, stacked on the same spot. The Franciscan church stands where the public heart of Neapolis once was, the Greek agora that later became the Roman forum. The excavations took some 25 years before the archaeological area opened to the public in 1992.

The official name is the Complesso Monumentale di San Lorenzo Maggiore; the excavations are branded La Neapolis Sotterrata. Compared with the city’s other underground sites it has three practical advantages: you can explore on your own, it is open every day, and you do not have to go down dozens of metres into tight spaces.

Neapolis Sotterrata: the Roman market under the church

The excavations lie about 10 metres below the church floor and show the lower level of the forum of Neapolis, built over the ancient agora.

The macellum

The Roman food market, from the second half of the 1st century AD: a rectangular portico lined with shops and a mosaic-paved courtyard with a tholos in the middle, a round building where food was sold. Part of it can be seen in the 18th-century cloister.

The Greek street

Under the transept runs a Greek stenopos, later a Roman cardo, paved in the 5th century AD. Walking along it is the high point of the visit.

The shops and the cryptoporticus

Nine tabernae open onto the street, each with two barrel-vaulted rooms: an oven has been identified in one and fabric-dyeing vats in another. Further on is the cryptoporticus, a covered market with masonry counters; three of its rooms probably held the aerarium, the city treasury.

The Gothic church, the friary and the museum

This was the first church in Naples rebuilt in French Gothic style, under Charles I of Anjou: a single nave, an apse with an ambulatory and radiating chapels, flying buttresses and 23 side chapels. Look out for:

• the high altar by Giovanni Merliano da Nola, with St Lawrence, St Francis and St Anthony;
• the tomb of Catherine of Austria by Tino di Camaino (1324), in the ambulatory to the right of the altar;
• the Baroque Cacace Chapel by Cosimo Fanzago, with sculptures by Andrea Bolgi and an altarpiece by Massimo Stanzione;
• the chapter house, with a Gothic doorway and frescoes of 1608 attributed to Luigi Rodriguez;
• the Sala Sisto V, the old refectory, more than 43 metres long, with the seven virtues painted on its vault by the same artist;
• the Museo dell’Opera, over four floors, from Greek finds to 18th- and 19th-century nativity figures.

Tradition says this is the church where Boccaccio first saw Fiammetta, the woman of his early works.

Opening hours and guided tours

The complex is open every day from 9:30 to 17:30. Holiday closures are not published, so check ahead at Christmas and New Year. Optional guided tours run at these times:

• Monday to Thursday: Italian at 10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30; English at 11:00, 13:15, 15:15 and 17:00.
• Friday to Sunday: Italian every hour from 10:30 to 16:30; English at 11:00, 13:15, 15:15 and 17:00.

The site also lists a 17:30 Italian tour, at closing time; if you are aiming for that one, confirm at the desk. Tiqets shows different hours from the official ones; go by the complex’s own website.

San Lorenzo Maggiore tickets: prices and discounts

• Adult: €9
• Reduced €7: Campania Artecard holders, teachers, university students, over-65s, police and partner discounts
• Under 18: €6
• Under 6: free
• School groups: €4
• Guided tour: +€2 per person, +€1 for ages 6–14

The ticket covers the church, the archaeological area, the Sala Sisto V, the chapter house and the museum, and a video guide is available on site. Tickets are sold only at the desk and through the official online system; guided tours are booked through the portal linked from the official site and paid on the spot. Bring ID for reductions. Your ticket also gets you 20% off the Standard route of the Bourbon Tunnel.

Official ticket or Tiqets?

The Tiqets ticket costs €10, one euro more than the official adult price, and covers the same areas plus an audio guide in English, Italian, French, German and Spanish, with free cancellation until 23:59 the day before. If you qualify for a reduction, or the complex’s own video guide is enough, the desk is cheaper.

If you want to add the guided underground tour on the same square, read our Naples Underground page first: the Tiqets “Naples Underground” product is supplied by a different company from the association that runs the entrance on the square.

We are an independent guide: if you book through the Tiqets or GetYourGuide links on this page we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

Getting there and accessibility

The entrance is at Piazza San Gaetano 316, on the corner of Via dei Tribunali and Via San Gregorio Armeno, on the same square as Naples Underground. The handiest stops are Dante and Museo on metro Line 1 and Cavour on Line 2, roughly ten minutes on foot. The old town is a limited-access zone (ZTL), so if you drive, park in a paid car park on its edge. See getting around Naples for every option.

The church, friary and museum are accessible by wheelchair and pushchair; the archaeological areas are not. In the church it is good practice to cover shoulders and knees.

When to go, and what to pair it with in the old town

San Lorenzo Maggiore works at any time of day, and it is a good plan for a rainy afternoon. Arrive by mid-afternoon so you are not rushing through the excavations. The natural pairing is Naples Underground on the same square, which goes down into the Greek quarries beneath the old town. A few steps away are San Gregorio Armeno and its nativity workshops, the Sansevero Chapel and the Cathedral. To choose between the city’s underground sites, read our guide to underground Naples: for many visitors, San Lorenzo Maggiore tickets are the easiest and most relaxed way into ancient Naples.