Adriatic Adventure: Paestum

On our last day in the Campania region we decided to visit Paestum.  But before I get into that, here's a pro tip on luggage.  Since we'd checked out of our apartment that meant we didn't have a place to keep our luggage while we played tourist for the day.  Thanks to our trusty Rick Steves guide, we learned that most train stations will hold your luggage for a small fee--well worth it to not have to carry our luggage on our backs all day!

Anyway, back to Paestum!  Unlike Pompeii, which is an ancient Roman city, Paestum is an ancient Greek city.  There aren't nearly as many people visiting there as in Pompeii, so you more or less have the place to yourself, can take as many photos as you want, and don't have to hurry through your exploration.

Paestum was likely founded around 650 BC by a group of people called the Dorians, who originally named the city Poseidonia after one of their gods.  It became quite a large and bustling city until it was conquered by the Lucanians, who renamed it to Paistos, and then eventually by the Romans.  The Romans repurposed some of the common areas, such as turning the Greek agora into the Roman Forum, and renamed the temples for their own gods.

These first two photos are of the Temple of Athena, which was built around 500 BC on the highest point of the city.

This is the second Temple of Hera, built around 460-450 BC.  It's also thought to be a temple dedicated to Poseidon and was even used to worship Zeus.

There's more to Paestum than temples, though.  There are a lot of ancient foundations, some of which have more or less preserved floors demonstrating mosaics.

If you have time, I recommend getting the combination ticket to the ruins as well as the museum.  The museum has a lot of artifacts pulled from Paestum.  One of the most interesting attractions was the multitude of sarcophagi they discovered in and around the area.  Each wall of the sarcophagus tells a story and are remarkably well preserved (though I do think they underwent some color restoration).

Another example of a sarcophagus wall.

Again, even though Paestum is a little off the beaten path, it's great if you're looking to get away from the crowds in Naples or the Amalfi Coast.  I personally loved it; it was a beautiful day and we felt like we had it all to ourselves.  It's also not too difficult to get there by public transportation.  We took the train from Salerno to Paestum and from there walked to the museum and ancient ruins.  Word of advice, though: trains in Italy will often change tracks at the last minute, so always pay attention to the board!