Paestum is an ancient Greek city in southern Italy. It is renowned for its remarkably well-preserved Greek Temples. In Paestum, we found Greek Temples in Italy. Paestum predates the Roman Empire by several hundred years.
Because of locations like Paestum, the Romans were infatuated with Greek culture and mythology. Greek culture was well established when the Romans told tales about Romulus being raised by wolves. The Romans adopted Greek culture, giving the Greek Gods — Roman names.
Photoblog, Naples, Italy, Europe. April 8, 2025
We left Rome after only one week. It was A busy first week.
If you missed our reports about Rome, these links are all about our visit to Rome.
- Beautiful art at the Church of the Gesù in Rome.
- Everything about Saint Peter’s Basilica is amazing.
- Stunning Ceiling Frescos in the Vatican Museum
- Splendid frescos in the Vatican Museum
- The Strange Egyptian Room at the Vatican Museum
- Roman Statues in the Vatican Museum
- Masterpiece Statues in the Borghese Gallery (and mosaics)
- Masterpiece Paintings in the Borghese Gallery
- Masterpiece frescos in the Borghese Gallery
- Monument of Victor Emmanuel
- The Roman Colosseum
- The Roman Forum
- The Pantheon is amazing
- The Beautiful Trevi Fountain
Then we took the high-speed train to Naples. It was, as described, very high-speed and very plush.
We first noticed traffic laws were “suggested” in Rome and non-existent in Naples. Cars and scooters were everywhere in Naples, including the sidewalks. Usually, cars use the sidewalks for parking rather than travel. We began using “gritty” as the description and quickly established our opinion of Naples.
After checking into our B&B in Naples, we drove south of Naples for another hour to visit Paestum and the Greek Temples in Italy. This was our first trip on the “cheap” train, and the seats were brutal and unforgiving.
Paestum is well south of Salerno, far south of Naples, but the train takes you within half a mile of the archeological site. Although there is evidence of Greek Culture in many places in Italy, Paestum ruins of Greek Temples match or even beat Athens. I couldn’t pass it up.
Poseidonia
The Greek name for Paestum was Poseidona. It was named after the sea god Poseidon, hence the possible origin of the name of the city they founded. Poseidonia reached the zenith of its splendor and wealth between the mid-6th and mid-5th centuries B.C. Given the size of the temples, it was very wealthy.
It wasn’t until the Romans began their conquest of Italy (including the entire Mediterranean coastline) that they renamed the Greek town of Poseidonia — Paestum.
Three Greek Temples
Paestum contains three of the best-preserved ancient Greek Temples in the world. The Greek Temples at Paestum included two dedicated to Hera and one dedicated to Athena.
Paestum features the three major Greek Temples and probably multitudes of minor temples. The Archelogy site includes 95 acres that have yet to be explored.
The Second Temple of Hera was erroneously called the Temple of Neptune or Poseidonia, while archeological digs were conducted.
The Second Temple of Hera was incorrectly called “The Basilica” by the Romans. To a Roman, a basilica meant a great meeting house and sometimes a courthouse. The Second Temple of Hera has subtle convex curves on the columns. This curve is designed to counteract the optical illusion of narrowing that would occur if the columns were straight.
The Temple of Athena is smaller and located in the northern part of the city. It is not as well preserved as the First and Second Temples of Hera.
Notably, the Greek Temples all date to the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. These Greek Temples offer a glimpse into the history and architecture of Greek expansion and seafaring.
Photos of the Greek Temples in Italy
Please subscribe and join us on our journey.
We will add you to our email list and send you updates once a week. Here is a link. Subscribe
About our links
As you know, our blog income is zero, which allows us to be independent and tell the truth. We do not get income or commissions. No, we don’t make paid endorsements. We don’t make recommendations; instead, we will tell you what we like (or dislike). The links are only provided as a quick reference to help our readers.
Links
Archaeological parks of Paestum and Velia
About our photos
These photos were taken during our visit. Our photos are often “enhanced” to represent what we saw in person and correct for lighting and other things. Sometimes, this editing makes the images look better than what we saw in person.
About comments
We love seeing your comments, but they are not automatic. I get about twenty spam comments every day, and thus, I have to turn off automatic comments. I read and then personally publish every comment to protect the blog and keep it on the subject and real. You will not see your comment right after you hit submit. Sorry for the delay in publishing your comments. Some comments come from personal emails and Facebook. Please know that we would love to hear from you.