Paestum Photos

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Paestum Descripion

Paestum Pictures

Paestum is a set of Greek ruins about two hours south of Naples. Though the site is not very large, or kept up for that matter (when I visited in 1997), it is important because it shows the Greek influence on the area. Though not as spectacular as cites like Pompeii or Hurculaneum, the buildings that are left do show everyday Greek architecture. I especially noticed the similarities between this site and the ruins at Mycenae. Paestum does offer the visitor something very important. Three restored Doric temples. In fact, the best they are the best preserved Greek ruins in Italy outside of Sicily. On a recent trip to Greece I compared these Doric temples with that of the nymph Aphania on Aegina an noted remarkable similarities. In fact they were nearly identical in construction. The temples when I saw them were being repaired. Having viewed recent pictures of Paestum, the temples have been restored and the site seems quite nice to visit. Especially if you are in Italy and not visiting Greece. The temple of Posiden was under restoration when I visited. Therefore, I did not take any pictures. However,I have seen pictures and it is as impressive as the Doric temples in Greece.
Though Paestum is not much now, it was once an important stop on both Greek and Roman trade routes. The city was very prosperous and as a result had three doric temples. However, the city met a tiny set of conquerors, malaria carrying mosquitoes. The Moquitoes caused a great drop in the population, either killing people or causing people to leave. Marauding bandits also decimated the site, leaving it deserted. This allowed paestum to be over grown by jungle. In fact, not much is recognizable except for three nicely preserved Doric style temples. (Of course two were under scaffolding when I was there.) Any comments, please E-mail me, .

Building Walls	Temple of Hera (Doric Style
Tomb/Shrine	Arch way
This "house" resembles a burial hut I saw in Mycenae, Greece. Gregory Musson tells me that it is an underground shrine	This arch way led into what looked to be an amphitheater of some sort. Not much was left but a staircase going to nothing and this arch.
Foundations of a temple in the Forum/Agora	Even More Foundations

That's all my pictures from Paestum. Like I said, there wasn't much there, I have much better Greek ruins in my galleries from Athens, Mycenae, and Nauplion in Greece and Rome, as well as Pompeii, in Italy.

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