The forum of Pompeii stands in Regio VII, it is easily reached through the entrance of Piazza Esedra and is one of the first things you can visit once you enter the excavations.
Impossible not to see the forum, it is the focal point of Pompeii and even in ancient times it was so, in fact, the forum for the ancient Pompeians represented the central square of the town, the most important one, where all political, religious and commercial events took place.
Precisely because of the great importance it held, the Temple of Jupiter was built in the forum, dedicated to the triad Jupiter, Minerva and Juno, and behind which Vesuvius rises majestically in axis.
All around it, stood the main places of worship of the ancient Pompeians, such as the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Sanctuary of the Public Lares and the Temple of Vespasian, as well as all the shops and commercial activities, including the macellum dedicated to the sale and cleaning of fish and the forum granaries, which served as fruit and vegetable markets.
Today, however, it has become the most important storeroom of the Pompeii excavations, where more than nine thousand artefacts are kept, including amphorae, pots, jugs, bottles, marble tables and fountains.
The forum square has a rectangular shape, 143 metres long and 38 metres wide.
And was originally made of beaten earth; only in the imperial age was it paved with travertine slabs and raised with two steps that turned it into a pedestrian area, forbidden to the passage of carts.
On three sides it was surrounded by a large portico, of which only a few columns remain today, as it was almost completely destroyed by the eruption of 79 AD.
