Market Overview

View looking north at the Market Place of ancient Puteoli (= macellum).  Shops outline the square market.  In the center of the market is a round structure called a tholos.  At the far end is a temple for the Imperial Cult (aka Emperor worship).  A statue of the Egyptian deity Serapis was found here and thus this area is sometimes called the Temple of Serapis.  The market dates to the first and second centuries A.D. and was restored in the third century.

Because the market sits on top of the caldera of a volcano it has risen and sunk through the ages.  At times 19.5 feet of the columns were under water—due to sinking!  Between 1982 and 1994 the land rose 5.6 feet!  In 2017, when this picture was taken, very little of the Macellum was under water.