The sector excavated in 2012 was a northwards extension of the 2011 excavation area. This sector was in correspondence with a large rectangular structure with several stories, with the forum floor (to the west) and via della Medusa (to the east). The construction techniques and finds suggest this was a cult site, dating to the colony’s origins and transformed over the course of time.

The excavations were preceded by geophysical surveys (geo-electric and geo-magnetic). These revealed the continuation of the via della Medusa towards the north (the road on a raised level that flanks the monuments facing onto the east side of the forum), the existence of several structures on the same alignment as the contiguous remains and, more generally, with the colony’s overall urban plan.

In this sector, a thick layer of colluvial soil was removed confirming the presence of the structures noted. Another stretch of the basalt road surface (partially robbed) was exposed, above which was a substantial accumulation of building materials including architectural terracottas, votives, and sculptural elements. The latter included a marble relief with floral decoration and a lion’s head from a table support.
Ancient floor surfaces survived close to the ground surface, an indication that the walls had not survived.

On the side facing the forum, the building was faced with large blocks. The excavation concentrated on a room delimited to the east by the front of the building itself and to the south and west by walls relating to the late antique blocking of the portico flanking the forum square. Heavy robbing was documented (in particular of floors and the podium blocks). Between the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., the building was restructured and changed function, which concords with what was recorded in the adjacent taberna.