File:Veduta_di_Paestum_2010.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Paestum
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Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order dating from about 550 to 450 BCE that are in an excellent state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. The site is open to the public, and there is a modern national museum within it, which also contains the finds from the associated Greek site of Foce del Sele.
Paestum was a major ancient Greek city located on the coast of southern Italy around 2,500 years ago. Today, its ruins are famous for three exceptionally well-preserved Greek temples and other structures like city walls and roads, making it one of the most important archaeological sites for understanding ancient Greek civilization.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Ancient site.name
- Paestum
- Ancient site.native_name
- Ποσειδωνία
- Ancient site.image
- Veduta di Paestum 2010.jpg
- Ancient site.caption
- Paestum contains three of the best-preserved ancient Greek temples in the world, including the two Hera Temples shown above.
- Ancient site.map_type
- Italy
- Ancient site.map_size
- 160px
- Ancient site.location
- Paestum, Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy
- Ancient site.region
- Magna Graecia
- Ancient site.type
- Settlement
- Ancient site.builder
- Colonists from Sybaris and/or Troezen
- Ancient site.built
- Around 600 BCE; ago
- Ancient site.epochs
- Archaic Greece to Middle Ages
- Ancient site.management
- Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Salerno, Avellino, Benevento e Caserta
- Ancient site.designation1
- WHS
- Ancient site.designation1_offname
- Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula
- Ancient site.designation1_type
- Cultural
- Ancient site.designation1_criteria
- iii, iv
- Ancient site.designation1_date
- 1998 (22nd session)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Elevation
- 18
- Official website
- parchipaestumvelia.cultura.gov.it
- Image
- View of Paestum with dji.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Paestum
- inception
- 0600-00-00
- Commons gallery
- Paestum
- native label
- Paestum
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Article
23 sectionsContents
- Name
- Ancient ruins and features
- The three Greek Temples
- Other archaeological features
- Painted tombs
- Sele complex
- Art from Paestum
- National Archaeological Museum
- History
- Foundation
- Greek period
- Lucanian period
- Roman period and abandonment
- Rediscovery
- Second World War
- Recent developments
- Coins
- In fiction
- See also
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order dating from about 550 to 450 BCE that are in an excellent state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. The site is open to the public, and there is a modern national museum within it, which also contains the finds from the associated Greek site of Foce del Sele.
Paestum was established around 600 BCE by settlers from Sybaris, a Greek colony in southern Italy, under the name of Poseidonia (). The city thrived as a Greek settlement for about two centuries, witnessing the development of democracy. In 400 BCE, the Lucanians seized the city. Romans took over in 273 BCE, renaming it Paestum and establishing a Latin colony. Later, its decline ensued from shifts in trade routes and the onset of flooding and marsh formation. As Pesto or Paestum, the town became a bishopric (now only titular), but it was abandoned in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed and largely forgotten until the eighteenth century.
Gallery (52)
On the map
3 mapped locations