7 May 2016: Paestum and Maratea

Three of the best ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 600BC to 450BC are located at Paestum (modern day Italy). The 3 Temples depict a sequence of development of the Doric order. The location subsequently became a Roman city through the Republician and Imperial eras, with many additional facilities added.

The onsite Museum is not worth a visit except to use the toilets. Walking around the site is very pleasant, mainly using the Roman roads, and there are plenty of shade trees for the summer.

Temple 2, or "the one in the middle" (furthest from camera in the pix to the left) Is the largest and best preserved, built in honour of Appollo in the role of physician.

 

T2 had a series of internal columns defining the interior.

The small circular forum dates from the Greek period, and is where political discussions occurred. There was not an equivalent role in the Roman town so it fell into disuse.

South from Paestum we need to cut through the mountainous spine of Italy. At first the road was quite good, a 2 lane freeway, but progressively we noted deformations in the surface and not of recent vintage. Finally the road was closed and we were deviated off. But where do we go now to get to our destination? There was no sign posting so we made an 'intelligent guess'! That cost us over an hour and we had to back track and make a 'more intelligent guess'!

The final picture is the view from our motel balcony at Maratea (southern Italy).