Italia Paestum 1 Archaeological site

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PAESTUM
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Archaeological site
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The ruins of Paestum are famous for their
three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order,
dating from about 600 to 450 BC
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Cercis siliquastrum, commonly known as the Judas
tree
Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the
coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia.
After its foundation by Greek colonists under the
name of Poseidonia it was eventually conquered by
the local Lucanians and later the Romans. The
Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans
gave the city its current name.  It was abandoned
in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed
and largely forgotten until the eighteenth
century. Paestum is a trove of innumerable
archaeological finds and decorative artifacts
many of which can be viewed inside the National
Archaeological Museum. UNESCO World Heritage
site since 1998
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Temple of Athena, known also as Temple of Ceres
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This is the only temple where we can be certain
about the identity of the deity to which it was
dedicated Athena, the goddess of crafts and
warfare. The temple of the patron goddess is
situated at the highest point of the city, to the
north of the public area which it overlooks. The
first generation of colonists constructed a small
building in honour of the goddess (known as the
oikos). In about 500 BC, a monu-mental temple
was built which has been preserved until the
cornice of the roof. The inner part (known as
cella), which is higher than the surrounding
colonnade, was accessible through a large
antechamber (pronaos) decorated with Ionic
columns
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Temple of Athena
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Piscina ceremonial in Forum
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Remains of columns from the Temple of Peace
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There are few among the cities of Magna Graecia
of which we hear less in history and the only
evidence of the flourishing condition and
prosperity of Poseidonia, is to be found in the
numbers of its coins and in the splendid
architectural remains, so well known as the
temples of Paestum
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Via Sacra
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Via Sacra
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Via Sacra, Temples of Neptune and Hera
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Temples of Neptune and Hera
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Via Sacra, Temples of Hera and Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
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This is the largest temple at Paestum and is the
best preserved. Built in about the mid-fifth
century BC, it encapsulates the classic features
of Greek temple archi-tecture. The large temple
of Zeus was being built during the same period at
Olympia in Greece, although it is less well
preserved.   The temple is built of enormous
blocks held together with simple dowels without
the use of mortar this building technique has
enabled the building to withstand earth-quakes
and other natural calamities.   As is the case
for the other temples, the walls of the inner
structure or cella are now missing due to the
reuse of the blocks by the inhabitants during the
medieval and modern eras.
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During the eighteenth century, it was thought
that the largest temple in the city must have
been the temple of Poseidon-Neptune, the deity
that gave the Greek city its name (Poseidonia)
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However, the attribution to Neptune is still a
matter of debate. The temple, which was used
extensively until the imperial period, may have
been dedicated to Hera, the main deity of the
city. Considering that a terracotta statue of
Zeus was found in the vicinity, another
hypothesis is that the temple was dedicated to
the most important Greek deity, the husband of
Hera and the father of Athena another hypothesis
is that the temple was dedicated to Apollo
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The Temple of Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
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The temple of Hera, the so-called Basilica, is
the oldest of the three large buildings. It
belongs to the first generation of large stone
temples and was begun in about 560 BC
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The temple of Hera is the only Greek temple
dating to a period of crucial importance to the
formation of Greek architecture to have been
preserved in such good condition
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The Temple of Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The Temple of Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
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 Italian stone pine (umbrella pine) - Pinus pinea
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The Temple of Neptune
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The Temple of Neptune
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In Paestum even the stones are blooming
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Paestum was chiefly celebrated in ancient times
for its roses, which possessed the peculiarity of
flowering twice a year, and were considered as
surpassing all others in fragrance. (Verg. G.
4.118 Ovid, Ov. Met. 15.708 Propert. 4.5. 59
Martial, 4.41. 10, 6.80. 6 Auson. Idyll. 14.
11.) The roses that still grow wild among the
ruins are said to retain their ancient property,
and flower regularly both in May and November
The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Hera (Basilica)
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The temple of Athena
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Ruins of the amphitheater
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Ruins of the Roman Forum
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Italian Wall or Ruin Lizard - Podarcis siculus
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The ekklesiasterion (Bouleuterion) in the Agora
of the Greek city of Paestum
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The three large temples at Paestum were built
according to the rules of the Doric order. The
Greeks were also familiar with the Ionic order
and the Corinthian order.A Doric temple can be
recognised by the capitals at the top of the
columns because they are shaped like large bowls
the flatter they are, the older the temple. The
capitals of the Basilica (c. 550 BC) are the
flattest, those on the temple of Athena (c. 500
BC) are less so, while those on the temple of
Neptune (c. 460 BC) display the classic features
of Doric architecture. A typical feature of the
Doric order is the frieze, placed in the part
above the columns, arranged in sculpted or
painted panels (metopes) with tripartite
elements that separate them (triglyphs)
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Text Internet Pictures Sanda Foisoreanu
Internet (slides 2,3,24,37,64) All 
copyrights  belong to their  respective owners
Presentation Sanda Foisoreanu
2018
Sound Petros Tabouris Ensemble - Nomos in
Dorios Harmonia (kithara)