Chiesa E Scavi Di San Lorenzo Maggiore

Lonely Planet review

Soaring, vast and bathed in light, this French Gothic masterpiece was commenced in 1270 by French architects who built the apse. Local architects took over the following century, recycling ancient columns in the nave. Victim of a baroque makeover in the 17th- and 18th centuries, it was stripped back to its original Gothic splendour in the mid-20th century, although a concession was made for Ferdinando Sanfelice's petite baroque facade.

Catherine of Austria, who died in 1323, is buried here in a beautiful mosaiced tomb. Legend has it that this was where Boccaccio first fell for Mary of Anjou, the inspiration for his character Fiammetta, while the poet Petrarch called the adjoining convent home in 1345.

Beneath the church are some extraordinary scavi (excavations) of the original Graeco-Roman city. Stretching the length of the underground area is a 54m-long road lined with ancient bakeries, wineries and communal laundries. At the far end of the cardo (road) there's a cryptoporticus (covered market) with seven barrel-vaulted rooms.

Back upstairs, the recently opened Museo dell'Opera di San Lorenzo Maggiore houses a fascinating collection of local archaeological finds, including Graeco-Roman sarcophagi, ceramics and crockery from the digs below.