Description
The Decumanus Maximus, via dei Tribunali, is the most important street in the old center of Naples: a long straight line packed with churches and palaces, where you walk along the same track the Greeks followed.
The name «decumanus» is Roman, but the street is older: it was the main plateia of Neapolis and has always kept the same course. The city's historic center has been a World Heritage Site since 1995.
It starts from Port'Alba and Piazza Bellini, where the first Greek walls remain, continues along via San Pietro a Majella and reaches Castel Capuano. From the castle, a court of law since the 16th century at the wish of Don Pedro de Toledo, comes the name via dei Tribunali.
Halfway along is Piazza San Gaetano, where the Greek agora and then the Roman forum stood. From here you descend underground: the entrances to Napoli Sotterranea and to the San Lorenzo excavations show important remains of Greek Neapolis.
From Piazza San Gaetano also starts via San Gregorio Armeno, the street of the nativity-scene workshops, which joins the Decumanus Maximus to the lower one.
Along the street you meet, one after another, the basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore, San Paolo Maggiore, Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco, the Girolamini, the Cathedral and the Pio Monte della Misericordia.
Not everything has remained intact. At the end of the 19th century, with the old Policlinico at Piazza Miraglia, many historic buildings were destroyed, above all cloisters.
Among the monuments are the obelisk of San Gennaro and the monument to Saint Cajetan. The buildings follow one another from west to east: Port'Alba, the conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, the Pontano chapel, Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta, Palazzo Spinelli di Laurino, Palazzo Filippo d'Angiò, the Girolamini and Palazzo Carafa di Chiusano.
The squares it crosses are Piazzetta Miraglia, Piazza San Gaetano, Largo dei Girolamini and Piazza Riario Sforza. The street ends at Forcella, in front of Castel Capuano.
The name «decumanus» is Roman, but the street is older: it was the main plateia of Neapolis and has always kept the same course. The city's historic center has been a World Heritage Site since 1995.
It starts from Port'Alba and Piazza Bellini, where the first Greek walls remain, continues along via San Pietro a Majella and reaches Castel Capuano. From the castle, a court of law since the 16th century at the wish of Don Pedro de Toledo, comes the name via dei Tribunali.
Halfway along is Piazza San Gaetano, where the Greek agora and then the Roman forum stood. From here you descend underground: the entrances to Napoli Sotterranea and to the San Lorenzo excavations show important remains of Greek Neapolis.
From Piazza San Gaetano also starts via San Gregorio Armeno, the street of the nativity-scene workshops, which joins the Decumanus Maximus to the lower one.
Along the street you meet, one after another, the basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore, San Paolo Maggiore, Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco, the Girolamini, the Cathedral and the Pio Monte della Misericordia.
Not everything has remained intact. At the end of the 19th century, with the old Policlinico at Piazza Miraglia, many historic buildings were destroyed, above all cloisters.
Among the monuments are the obelisk of San Gennaro and the monument to Saint Cajetan. The buildings follow one another from west to east: Port'Alba, the conservatory of San Pietro a Majella, the Pontano chapel, Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta, Palazzo Spinelli di Laurino, Palazzo Filippo d'Angiò, the Girolamini and Palazzo Carafa di Chiusano.
The squares it crosses are Piazzetta Miraglia, Piazza San Gaetano, Largo dei Girolamini and Piazza Riario Sforza. The street ends at Forcella, in front of Castel Capuano.