Paestum Archaeological Park

Paestum Archaeological Park, located near the modern village of Capaccio Paestum in the Campania region of southern Italy, contains three of the most complete and best-preserved ancient Greek temples in existence, all pre-dating the Parthenon and the Roman Forum. The site was originally a Greek colony called Poseidonia, founded by settlers from Sybaris around 600 BC and later taken by the Lucanian people before becoming Roman. The temples stand in an open meadow of wild orchids and grasses that blooms brilliantly in spring, creating an extraordinary visual contrast between ancient golden limestone and natural landscape. The Temple of Hera I (the Basilica), dating to approximately 550 BC, is the oldest of the three; the Temple of Hera II (the Temple of Neptune), dating to around 450 BC, is the most complete with all 36 exterior columns intact and much of the frieze preserved; and the Temple of Ceres (Athena), dating to around 500 BC, stands at the northern end of the ancient forum. Walking among these structures, which tower nine to twelve metres in height, gives an immediate sense of the scale of Hellenic ambition in Magna Graecia. The on-site Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum, included in the admission price, displays extraordinary finds from the site and surrounding necropolis: the Tomb of the Diver (480 BC), with its vivid painted scenes of a symposium and diving figure, is among the most celebrated surviving works of Greek painting. The museum also houses magnificent bronze vessels, terracotta votives, and metopes from the Sanctuary of Hera at the Foce del Sele. The park and museum together require two to three hours.