We arrived in Paestum in the afternoon, on a crystal clear day. Paestum has some of the best-preserved Greek ruins in all of Europe. It’s not very well known among American travelers, because its located South of Naples, far away from the sights most people want to see on their first trip to Italy. Paestum is an easy drive from the Amalfi Coast, so if you’re on vacation there and have a rental car, I recommend driving down to Paestum for the afternoon.

Located on the Gulf of Salerno, Paestum was founded by Greeks 650 BC. It fell to the Romans, who established a colony there around 273 BC. In the 1st century BC, Paestum was famous for its roses, and was mentioned by many Roman poets.

To the right is the The Temple of Athena, which dates from about 510 B.C.

A quick note on how to use this page. All of the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. When you click, your browser will open the enlarged picture in a separate window. To return to this page, close the window that has the enlarged picture in it. Underlined text are links that take you to other web sites with more information on the subject.

All of the pictures were taken by me. All graphics and Flash graphics were created by me. My pictures and graphics are copyrighted and cannot be used or reproduced without my permission.

The Temple of Hera II and a rendering of the original architecture.

Click Here to go to the Amalfi Coast, the next page of this travelogue: