half of the 4th c. BC before the wars with the Romans and are about 6.5 km in circumference. Several sections can be seen. Three impressive and strong defensive gates of the five originals are now exposed. The remains of the north gate show an imposing defensive structure. On its west external side a votive ditch was discovered which was rich in materials documenting a cult linked to fertility dating from the Hellenistic era until the end of the first century AD. Near the ditch are tombs carved into a rocky bank. Not far away you can see the facing cross-linked by a building still to be explored. The West Gate is the starting point of the Decumanus Maximus, the well-preserved east-west road of the city, paved with volcanic stone. Villa of the Cryptoporticus Along the decumanus is an area occupied by a large residential complex. The first building, a large domus north of the decumanus, is preceded by a series of small rectangular rooms, perhaps workshops (tabernae), overlooking the main street. Among these open the two entrances of the Villa (or Domus) of the Cryptoporticus, so named for its unusual and impressive underground rooms (cryptoporticus literally means covered porch, partly underground and was used in Roman architecture to build terraces or a covered market). It is a large and sumptuous private residence built in the classical style of noble Roman houses (domus with atrium and peristyle). Its earliest phase was the late 2nd and early 1st century BC and underwent numerous renovations in the Augustan period. Further changes were made between the Flavian and Hadrianic periods, while in late antiquity parts of the domus were partially reused. Later the area was abandoned and used as a cemetery from the discovery of tombs in the cellar. The large main entrance leads into a vast atrium, around which are arranged various rooms, divided into bedrooms (cubicula) and living quarters (triclinia). A second entrance leads to a courtyard with a fountain in the centre, the result of the transformation of an original small lobby, probably in the late 1st century AD. This leads to the main lobby and then the rectangular peristyle surrounded by columns on all four sides. At the north-eastern corner of the peristyle are stairs giving access to the upper storey which is lost. The rich floor mosaic which dates from the first phase of the domus is still