Paestum archaeological park

The Paestum archaeological park that is in the province of Salerno is one of the most popular sites in the world, where the remains of the ancient Poseidonia lies, such as the renowned Paestum’s Temples.

Paestum was a Magna Graecia city, during the Hellenic period its name was Poseidonia and it was founded because it was a very important commercial junction; in fact, from 560 BC to 440 BC the city went through its age of glory.

Later, Poseidonia was conquered by the Lucanians that changed its name to Paistom, and eventually became a Roman Latin rights colony known as Paestum. The city always remained true to Rome (Paestum people, in fact, were allied with Roman people and they supplied both ships and sailors when needed), and thanks to its loyalty the citizens were allowed to issue their own coin: the PSSC, Paesti Signatum Senatus Consulto.

The Salso river (today known as Capodifiume), rich in limestone, turned Paestum into a swamp, cutting it out of the commercial traffic. People moved to the nearby mountains where they were safe from both diseases and Saracens; the city was eventually looted by Ruggero il Normanno first and later by Roberto il Guiscardo.

The ancient city of Poseidonia was rediscovered only at the beginning of the 20th century, when the site was open and archaeologists began excavating.

Paestum is surrounded by walls. At the cardinal points there are the access doors: porta Sirena (Siren Gate, east), porta Giustizia (Justice Gate, south), porta Marina (Sea Gate, west) and porta Aurea (Golden Gate, north).

The Paestum archaeological park incorporates the remains of the ancient city of Poseidonia, including two sanctuaries and the temples, the Greek agora, the Roman court, the cathedral, the macellum, the Greek ekklesiasterion and the Roman comitium, altars, reconstructed roads, thermal baths and fountains, ancient houses, the Roman amphitheatre and the Museo archeologico nazionale di Paestum (Paestum National Archaeological Museum).

Outside the Paestum wall there are several necropolises… a true walk in the past.

The pride of the archaeological park are the Paestum’s temples, built in Doric style on the area of the Sanctuaries dedicated to Hera and Athena, that survived time splendidly.

Near the southern Sanctuary there are the temples dedicated to Hera and Neptune. The temple dedicated to Hera, Goddess of fertility, is also known as Basilica (Cathedral), and is an archaic building with all the 50 columns kept intact. The temple dedicated to Neptune, instead, is the biggest one.

Near the northern Sanctuary there is the temple dedicated to Athena, that has a less complex structure.

The site is in via Magna Grecia 919 in Capaccio-Paestum, 30 km away from Salerno.

Car: drive along the A3-Salerno Reggio Calabria highway and take the exit signposted Battipaglia or Eboli, then proceed towards Capaccio-Paestum and reach via Laura.

Train: you can take one of the many regional trains reaching Paestum that leave from both the Salerno and Napoli train stations. Once you get to the Paestum train station you will reach the archaeological site in just 15 minutes getting through Porta Sirena.

Bus: you can take the CSTP line 34 bus leaving from Piazza della Concordia in Salerno that stops at Paestum, or you can take a Salerno-Piaggine SITA bus. You can buy the ticket at one of the coffee bars near the piazza; the route to Paestum will take you around an hour and a half.