Pompeii Forum -
The Main Square of the Ancient Pompeii

"Pompeii Forum was the main civic, commercial and religious center and is a must-see when visiting Pompeii ruins..."

What exactly is a Pompeii forum?

PompeiiForumForum of Pompeii today

Just as any other Roman forum, the forum in Pompeii, part of Pompeii ruins, was a large open space of an oblong shape, surrounded by buildings, houses, temples, basilicas, porticos...

In other words, Pompeii forum was an urban center, a main square of the city, and home to the town's main civic, commercial, and religious institutions.

The center of life and interest for its citizens, a bustling crowd that came here every day to meet, gossip, run business, or worship.

A must-see when visiting Pompeii!

Would you like to combine visiting Pompeii with other exciting destinations in the Bay of Naples? Read our article on visiting Pompeii as well as Naples, Sorrento or Capri in a day.

Not sure how to visit the archeological site of Pompeii from the cruise ship docked in Naples?

You can either take a train from Naples to Pompeii or refuse to have headaches about getting around in a foreign country and getting back to the ship and time and take one of the shore excursions or transfers.

I've found a few with good reviews on the Viator:

Where is Pompeii forum located?

pompeii forum image, pompeii forum pictureHere's what the Forum of Pompeii looked like

Situated at the crossing of the two old routes between Pompeii and Naples, Nola and Stabiae, Pompeii forum used to be right in the center of the town but from the 2nd Ct. BC, as the town grew, it was left on its outskirts.

However, it played a major role in Pompeii's religious, economic, and political life.

To locate the Pompeii Forum, check our Map of Ancient Pompeii

At the time of Sulla, the Pompeii forum was enclosed on three sides by a portico, raised above ground level by three steps, and made up of fluted Doric columns on the ground level and Ionic ones around the first floor covered passageway.

520 feet long and 109 feet wide (157x38 meters), the Pompeii forum was paved with marble blocks and closed for cart traffic.

Want to find out more about Pompeii, its art and architecture? Getting on a tour with an archeologist is the best way to find out a lot in the limited amount of time you have!

And that is the magic of booking tours on Viator, they offer all kinds of specialty tours, while booking a shore excursion with your cruise line limits the options.

Here are some recommendations for you:

What statues were displayed in the forum of Pompeii?

PompeiiForum

In front of the portico, there were the pedestals for statues of distinguished residents.

Those of the members of the Imperial House were placed on the south side of the forum, in front of the administrative buildings.

Its statues and structures reflected the religious, civic, and imperial values of the Roman society at the time and many can still be seen at the site, while the others are on display in the National Archeological Museum in Naples. 

Not sure whether to visit Pompeii or the National Museum in Naples? Well, you can visit both in a day. 

Here's how to do it:

What buildings were surrounding Pompeii forum?

Here's the list of buildings you'll be able to see in the Pompeii forum:

  • Temple of Jupiter - it stood at the raised platform of masonry, nine and a half feet high, approached by 15 steps.
  • Arch to Drusus and arch of Germanicus
  • Municipal buildings - the function of these buildings is still debated; one is thought to have served as a meeting room for the administrators, another might have been a legal archive, and the third one the hall of the decurions, members of the city Senate.
  • Comitium - an open-air hall that served as a polling station for public office elections.
  • The Basilica - a building dedicated to administering justice and for business negotiations and transactions.
  • Eumachia - this building could have served as a wool market and was built and financed by the priestess Eumachia.
  • Macellum - the city's main food market.
  • The Sanctuary of the Lares Publici - either dedicated to the gods that protected Pompeii or to the Imperial family.
  • Forum Granary - once used to store grain for sale, today it is a storage space for different archaeological findings from Pompeii: amphorae, architectural elements, plaster casts of victims, etc.
  • The Temple of Apollo
  • Temple of Vespasian - also referred to as the Sanctuary of the Genius of Augustus, as more archaeologists believe it was dedicated to Augustus, rather than Vespasian.

Today, the forum is one of the must-see Pompeii ruins when visiting the ancient city Pompeii, bustling with tourists just as it used to be with old Romans 2000 years ago, don't miss it!

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