Archeological itinerary Paestum-Velia

Paestum is situated on the long coast of the Sele Plain and it affords the opportunity to admire the splendid Temples, considered to be one of the most beautiful and best preserved monuments of antiquity: the NeptuneTemple,the Italic Temple, the Ceres Temple, the early-Christian Basilica, the Museum, the Sanctuary of the Argive Hera.

The National Archeological Museum harbours remarkable materials found in the town settlements, in the nearby necropoles as well as in the Sanctuary of the Argive Hera. Among the most significant archeological finds i.e. the fictile metopes of the Heraion of the Sele estuary there should be mentioned the “Tomb of the Diver”, dated by its discoverer to 480 B.C., being one of the few examples of archaic and classical Greek painting art.


The Archeological Site of Velia offers the visit at the Acropolis, at the Thermae, at the Lower Town and its four Gates; in particular worth mentioning is the Porta Rosa (Rose Gate) which constitutes one of the most beautiful structures of this kind.

The Hellenic Thermae date back to the III century B.C. Among the ruins can be noticed a dressing room, a section with individual bathtubs as well as other remains not fully identified, all of them heated from the underground. The Roman Thermae date back instead to the first half of the II century A.D. The external walls are built of stone and bricks, whereas the floors are decorated with mosaics depicting marine scenes.

Having arrived at Acropolis you can admire the ruins of a small theatre dating back to the III century B.C. whose bearing wall leans against the terrace of the so-called Ionic temple. Nearby, there is a rectangular-plan building, designed perhaps to harbour votive offerings. On the upper terrace can be noticed the Ionic Temple, partly destroyed by the huge tower of the Norman castle. The Temple was, in turn, built on the pre-existing structures, as shown by the discovery of the walls in polygonal work at the lower level. Nearby, can be noticed a Hellenic portico that created a wing opening onto the sea landscape.