History of Paestum: yesterday and today

If you reach Paestum from north, along the former SS18 road, you will get to a fork where the modern road crosses the ancient surrounding wall. Eastwards, towards the mountains, there is Porta Sirena (Siren Gate), the best preserved gate of the whole surrounding wall, that has a round-arch with a sphinx resembling a siren carved in. The sphinx is a very popular image, often put on the exposed side of surrounding walls to push away anathemas.

Southward there are Porta Giustizia (Justice Gate), guarded by two towers, a rectangular one and a round one, and Porta Marina (Sea Gate), with its massive size. Coming back northward, you will see the remains of Porta Aurea (Golden Gate), the northern gate.

The tempio di Cerere is actually dedicated to Athena, in fact researchers found several pottery statues of the goddess with helmet and shield in the votive storage. The temple, that dates back to 500 BC, has a stylish structure with a Doric order peristyle (row of outer columns); six columns per front and thirteen along the sides. The pediment had no horizontal frame, just two oblique frames, with a rocky ceiling coffer construction, one of the most ancient ever found. Two capitals have been found in 1948 and now are kept inside the Museum, together with the eaves and the decorative architectural elements of the temple.

On the left side (eastern) of the street there is the first monument that marked the history of the Poseidonia’s agora, the so-called Sacello Ipogeico. It may be a  heroon , that is a monument (we could say a cenotaph) dedicated to a person that was celebrated as a hero after his death.

Proceeding eastward, there is another important monument that belonged to the Poseidonia’s agora: the ekklesiasterion of the Greek city, that is the building where the ekklesìa (Assembly) of adult male citizens that could take part in the political life used to gather. The ekklesiasterion poseidoniate was carved into a tender rocky bank so to get a series of concentric circles that were eventually covered with rocky seats.

In the east there is the amphitheatre that is divided in two areas: the western area is the one that people can visit as the archaeologists brought it back to light; the eastern area, instead, is the one that lies partially under the modern road. On the outside, you can recognise two different architectural phases: the first phase consists of a calcareous blocks wall that defines a smaller monument, dating back to the 1st century BC, between Silla and Cesare.

The second phase, probably dating back to the 1st century AD, during the Flavian era, consists of brick pillars on the outside to support a second row of terraces made to enlarge the building. The terraces were probably made of wood.

Behind the Court there is the ancient residential area, that is a long-shaped housing complex. The remains of the houses allow people to get an idea of the space distribution; moreover, thanks to reconstruction drawing, people can easily get an idea of the possible appearance of the building elevation. In most cases, the house plan recalls the basic Greek houses, with either the vestibule or the impluvium.

There are few big architecturally complex houses, which means that few rich people used to live here, as they were the only ones who could afford luxurious houses.

If you take the road that is perpendicular to the east-west parterre, you can see one of the Roman  Paestum biggest houses, with a huge pool next to it.

In the west you can see the great pool; traditionally, researchers thought it was part of the gymnasium complex, believing that all the nearby structures were used to perform sports competitions. It actually was an important sanctuary dedicated to the cult of the female Goddess of  fertility.

During the Roman imperial era (1st century AD) the pool was filled and a three-nave building was built on it. Later, a colonnade was added and today we can still see the marble supports on the north edge of the pool.

At your back you will see the Court. On the west side there is a row of shops overlooking the colonnade and, at the centre, a three-recesses building that is probably the Lararium (recess dedicated to the Gods) of the Roman city (dating back to the 3rd century AD). In the last taberna (shop) in the northern area there is a well-preserved olive crushing press.

The entire Court’s square is surrounded by a rock columns colonnade. For a complete overview, keep in mind that the square was completely surrounded by shops (rectangular buildings, with a front area, a back area and an upper floor, each of them made of squared blocks, dating back to the period Paestum became a Latin colony, that is after the 273 BC), except for the sites of the great public buildings.

On the southern area of the square there are three buildings that differ for both size and structure from the taberne. The first one is a big brick building, that was built on the remains of the destroyed shops. At the centre, there is a three-doors building with a rock exedra on the inside, surrounded by a covered colonnade on three sides. People usually refer to it as the Curia; it actually is a cathedral, that was the place where people used to carry out justice and talk about business. Right next to it there is a building with a paved courtyard and a marble colonnade with small rooms, maybe shops, and that’s why archaeologists think it may be a Macellum (covered market).

On the opposite side, in the north, there are two important public buildings: the Comitium and the Court’s temple, also known as “Italic” Temple.

Take the road east of the Comitium, that is partially paved with basoli (volcanic or calcareous rock sheets), towards the amphitheatre and you will see on your right a rectangular squared blocks building that looks like a tower; it is the Aerarium of the city.

Cross back the Court and leave the Macellum at your right to see on your left the foundations of a massive religious complex: it is an Asklepieion (the sanctuary of Asclepio, God of medical science) with a courtyard, the rooms to host the worshipers and the huge platform known as  enkoimeterion (dormitory), a typical element of the God’s sanctuaries where, as everyone knows, people used to be cured by incubation.

Proceeding southward, you will reach the area of the Hera’s urban sanctuary, where there are a Basilica (Cathedral) and the Neptune’s Temple.

The further south temple is known as Basilica and it is the older one, as testified by the odd columns on the front, by the columns profile that has a clear bulge at the centre and by the capitals that have a very pressed echinus. On the back there is another room, that is symmetrical with respect to the pronaos; this room is closed, can only be entered by the cell. Its name is adyton, very common among Greek architectures in Sicily; maybe, it was used to keep the temple’s treasure.

The so-called Neptune’s Temple, the latest among the big temples of Paestum, dates back to the 5th century BC (approximately 450 BC) and it is one of the best Doric architecture examples in the West.

Last but not least, the Sanctuary of Hera at the mouth of the Sele river. Archaeologists found hundreds and thousands votive objects, together with coins and metal things, within it.