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About an hour south of Naples are the ruins of a twenty five hundred year old city called Paestum. Humans have inhabited this region for more than 250,000 years, living in caves along the seashore until the discovery of agriculture and iron brought warriors and traders to the region. From these cliffs the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey sung their song. By the 7th century BC the Greeks had colonized a city known as Poseidonia.
When Pyrrhus invaded Italy in 280 B.C. Poseidonia, Rome was beginning to establish itself as an expanding empire, thanks to its powerful army. Instead of calling for Greek aide, the Roman army defended the Italian peninsula by itself. Unfortunately for Poseidonia, their ally was the loser Pyrrhus. The Roman victory showed that Greece was no longer the dominant power in the Mediterranean. Soon thereafter, Latin tribes from the north conquered this small city, renaming it Paestum.
Building continued under Roman rule as the Italian religion blended the imperial cult of the north with aspects of the traditional Greek pantheon. But by the second century BC, the city had stopped expanding and its status was reduced to provincial outpost as northern cities such as Neapolis and Kyme grew along the highways of the new Roman empire. After Christ the formerly Greek temples took on a Christian purpose, and by Rome’s fall this sleepy seaside town was largely forgotten, its remoteness contributing to its relative obscurity.
Since 1998, Paestum has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as a relic of the ancient communication network between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas. As gift shop prints depict, the moss-covered temples here were re-discovered by eighteenth century English travelers, around the same time as Pompeii and Herculaneum. These noblemen marveled at the dilapidated temples ignored by peasants who lived among the toppled columns and ancient houses.
Its three extant temples are dedicated to Hera, Ceres and Poseidon, the city’s patron gods. While the friezes and metopes fell long ago, the columns still stand erect, having withstood seismic activity, volcanic eruptions and centuries of bad weather. Today they are some of the best preserved Greek temples in the world.
The archeological museum onsite holds some of the treasures found here during the mid-20th century excavation, and aside from the three temples, points of interest include the remains of an agora, a once-open-air market now an empty field bordered by colonnades; ancient homes whose mosaic floors and marble cisterns indicate the riches of an extinct empire; and a small amphitheater, once the site of votes pertaining to the ancient city’s fate. This amphitheater was partially destroyed by the architect who built the nearby road; in 1936, he was convicted for his crime and jailed for eight years. On the western periphery of the site, uneven Greek flagstones lead to smaller floor plans spaced closer together, a reminder of the eternal disparity between rich and poor.
After working up an appetite surveying the grounds, lunch at a nearby restaurant. Pizza is never a bad idea in Southern Italy, but for more diverse local fare, order a caprese salad with the buffalo mozzarella that this part of Campania has made world famous. Being so close to the Mediterranean is ideal for seafood-lovers: linguine con vongole is made with clams caught offshore and mixed in a sauce of olive oil and white wine. Spada, or swordfish, is also a local favorite, often cooked with cloves, lemon and more olive oil. Pair it with a lacrima christi, made from grapes grown in the rich soil of Vesuvius, and for dessert, add a macchiato and biscotto.
If it’s warm, stop at the nearby beaches, renowned throughout Southern Italy for their sprawling, clean sands. And if you have time, head north to appreciate the medieval beauty of towns like Ravello, Amalfi and Positano.
Paestum and environs have been inhabited for almost as long as human civilization has existed, but treading the ground that two and a half thousand years ago was a bustling city is more than toppled marble and a history lesson. For any visitor to these once-holy ruins, a belief in ghosts isn’t necessary to feel the reverence of the living and the dead.
The post Paestum: Home to The Best-Preserved Greek Temples in the World appeared first on Daniel Ryan Adler.