Paestum

PAESTUM Thousands of years ago, a small group of Greek sailors landed on the low shores that close the Gulf of Salerno and founded a colony destined to become one of the most extraordinary cities of Magna Graecia, Poseidonia (6th century BC). The city later became a very wealthy Roman colony, under the name of Paestum. After a rapid decline beginning in the Middle Ages, the site was rediscovered in the 18th century, when the first excavations began. The Paestum unearthed by archaeologists is a fascinating place, not only for its magnificent natural location on the edge of the Cilento coast, but also for the richness and variety of its public buildings, Doric-style temples and tombs, which bring together the best of Greek and Roman art from its long history. The city was surrounded by a double curtain wall, enclosing a complex network of buildings, among which the large sacred buildings stood out, such as the sanctuary of Hera, of which the grandiose structure of the basilica remains, surrounded by columns and dating back to the 6th century BC, and the so-called Temple of Neptune, perfectly preserved, in which the severity of the Doric style reflects that of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. In the Greek necropolis of Poseidonia, a tomb with walls decorated with painted stone slabs was discovered: it is the famous and beautiful Tomb of the Diver, a masterpiece of 5th-century BC Greek art, preserved in the nearby National Museum.