powered by FreeFind	Paestum (Poseidonia) 144 pictures     The river Sele crosses the center of the recently formed alluvial plain, near the city of Poseidonia (later Paestum). Finds of flint implements in the area of the great temples prove that the site was inhabited in the earliest Stone Age. The foundation of Poseidonia, at the end of the 7th century B.C., was one of the last episodes of Greek colonization in southern Italy. A settlement which immediately experienced rapid demographic, urbanite and economic expansion, the latter in particular linked to a flourishing trade in cereals and oil. The city fell under the dominion of the Lucanians in 400 B.C., probably as a result of fairly violent actions of conquest, as is suggested by the traces of fire in some temples. Between the years 335 and 331 B.C. Alexander the Molossian, King of Epirus and uncle of Alexander the Great, was called to Italy by the inhabitants of Taranto to fight the Lucanians. In 273 B.C. Poseidonia surrendered to the power of Rome and thus saw the new name, Paistom, which the Lucanians had given it, Latinized into Peastum. The Romans gave the city a long period of splendid prosperity, integrating into the characteristic Greek monumental urban structure those civil and religious structures that were typical of every Roman colony. The city played an important role in the war between Rome and Carthage. In 216 B.C., in the most difficult moment of the second Punic War, ambassadors from Paestum offered Rome golden vases from the sanctuaries to sustain the war effort. The Roman senate thanked Paestum but did not accept the offer. In the early middle ages, Paestum was the seat of a Bishopric. Temple of Ceres The temple was built around 500 B.C. and is an outstanding example of temple architecture for the period of transition between late Archaic and the dawn of Classicism. The temple was dedicated to the goddess Athena, There are also Latin inscriptions which prove that the temple was dedicated to Minerva in Roman times. The temple's structure: a Doric peristyle with six columns on the front and rear facades and thirteen along the sides. "Diver's Tomb" It is a simple burial chamber, a cassa consisting of slabs, closed by a flat lid, decorated with frescoes on the inner walls, and betraying a clear Etruscan influence. This is the only evidence of funerary art in Poseidonia in the 5th century B.C. Temple of Neptune The temple was built in the middle of the 5th century B.C., and is one of the most perfect examples of Doric architecture. It was also probably consecrated to Hera or, according to other scholars, to Zeus. There are many features that make this temple fit perfectly within the cultural context of the Classical age. We have here one of the earliest examples of that architectural refinement that was one of the great achievements of Classical geometry. Basilica This is the oldest structure in Paestum. Its construction began in the middle of the 6th century B.C. This structure was, in actual fact, a temple raised in honor of Hera around 550 B.C. The building is a perfect model of the Doric temple of the Classical Age. The large number of columns on the short sides, together with the total absence of pediments, suggest that the temple was a building used for secular affairs. "Black Horseman's Tomb" Tomb 58 of the Andriuolo necropolis: scenes of duel and mourning, the painting dates from the 4th century B.C. The Pool This area, considered to be a gymnasium, in fact is an important sanctuary for the worship of a female goddess of fertility. It was built in the 3rd century B.C., in the Roman period. In the 1st century B.C. the pool was filled and on top of it was built first a building with three naves, than a portico of which the marble bases may be seen on the northern edge of the pool. The Ekklesiasterion This structure belonged to the agora's complex. This is the Greek city's Ekklesiasterion, the building which housed the meetings of the "ekklesia"(assembly) of all adult male citizens, those entitled to participate in political life. The Amphitheater This monument was built in the 1st century B.C. between the age of Sulla and that of Caesar, in squared limestone blocks. This is the entrance to the arena, in which the surviving tigers and the vaulted corridor where animals and equipment for the spectacles must have been kept can still be seen. The Residential Areas Next to the forum there is a large open space, with its well-preserved paving stones and the fronts of the city blocks opening on to it. The street has a lane for vehicles, and colonnades along the two sides. Back to Italy Index