Paestum, heir city of Magnia Grecia

About this activity

Paestum is a city that has its roots in the distant Magna Graecia. At that time the Greeks called it Poseidonia in honor of the god of the sea, although very devoted to Athena and It was. After its conquest by the Lucanians it was called Paistom, later assuming, under the Romans, the name by which we know it today. The village is part of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, in the hamlet of Capaccio, located in the Sele Plain, close to the coast of the Gulf of Salerno. What most captures the attention of visitors is the majesty of the ruins perfectly situated against the backdrop of a breathtaking landscape, which make up the entire archaeological area. The temples, especially when admired in the light of sunset, make the atmosphere even more magical and, along with those of Athens and Agrigento, are considered among the best-preserved temples in the world.

The archaeological park: the temples of Paestum

There are three Doric temples overlooking Paestum: the Basilica, the Temple of Neptune, and the Temple of Ceres. The Basilica, also known as the temple of Hera, was probably erected in the 6th century B.C., and is the oldest monument. Although it lacks a roof and pediment, it emerges solemnly thanks to all the columns of the portico. In front of the temple stand the remains of the sacrificial altar. The largest temple that has come down to the present day in excellent condition, however, is the one dedicated to Neptune: the latter perfectly reflects the canons of theGreek architecture, while the material used for the construction is the local travertine, which seems to absorb the sunlight. The golden color, in fact, is more or less intense depending on the intensity with which the light hits it. The temple was built using large boulders connected by simple dowels, moreover without mortar, in fact during the Middle Ages and even in modern times the blocks were reused by locals for other constructions.

The Temple of Athena, also known as the Temple of Ceres, has very ancient origins: in the early days of the city it was just a small building dedicated to the goddess of craft and war. Around 500 B.C. it was later transformed into the solemn 34-column temple that we can still observe today on a rise not far from the city center. Although the temple might have been thought to have been attributed to Ceres, the discovery of several figurines depicting Athena cast doubt on this hypothesis.

During excavations that were carried out in depth in 1937, architectural terracottas came to light that allowed reconstruction of the roof of the building from the Archaic period, one of the oldest in what was then Poseidonia. The architectural structure is much simpler than the other temples, and of the cella that once would have housed the statue of the goddess only the floor and some side stairs are visible.

The archaeological museum

Also not to be missed is the Archaeological Museum, whose first design dates back to the 1930s to house the metopes found in the Shrine of Hera at mouth of the Sele River. The metopes, architectural elements of the frieze, were installed in an elevated position so that visitors could admire them from the same perspective as the ancients. Precious artifacts are housed here, including other materials unearthed during new excavations at the Sele Heraion, utensils, vases, statuettes, capitals, painted tomb slabs, as well as the very famous Tomb of the Diver, discovered in 1968 in a small necropolis nearby.

The origins of the Shrine of Hera and the storytelling museum

According to legend, the Shrine of Hera came into being because of the journey the Argonauts and Jason undertook to conquer the Golden Fleece. They conquered the fleece, in the distant Colchis on the Black Sea, but their journey back to Greece was a long one. They traveled along several rivers, including the Danube, the Po, the Rhone, and then down the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. They stopped at the mouth of the Sele River and dedicated a shrine to the goddess who had protected their journey, Hera of Argos, the bride of the father of the gods, Zeus.

A symbol of protection for sailors, the shrine long marked the boundary between the Greek inhabitants of Poseidonia south of the river and the Etruscans to the north. The metopes now housed in the museum, were discovered thanks to the insight of archaeologist Paola Zancani Montuoro, who managed to locate the building among the Sele River marshes, then began excavation work together with Umberto Zanotti Bianco. Along the Sele River, you can also find a real storytelling museum. It is an old farmhouse restored where panels, video, installations and 3D reconstructions tell the origins of the temple and its history. Curiosities, myths, legends told through figurative arts on stone suddenly come to life by lighting up on the screens.

Historical background

There are several testimonies, such as the Necropolis of Gaudo, that the village was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. I Greeks, after securing a fortified outpost near the sea, they simultaneously built a shrine, Heraion, a little further north near the mouth of the Sele River. The magnificence of this colony led the Lucanians, an Italic population from the interior, to occupy it around 400 BC. Meanwhile, the powerful Rome, which had become the undisputed mistress of these regions, founded a Latin colony there in 273 B.C., naming it Paestum. The Romans enriched the city with great buildings including the portico of the Hole, the spa, l'Amphitheater and the so-called Temple of Peace.

Paestum was inhabited until about 500 BC. Later the geographical expansion of the marshes, and consequently also of malaria, decreed its demise. Chance would have it, however, that the very bush and unhealthy environment responsible for its demise saved the ruins that have come down to us today from destruction and looting.