Paestum 

An ancient city of Campania, located at the Tyrrhenian coast south of Salerno, it was one of the main cities in the Magna Greece. The oldest traces of human settlement on the site date back to the Palaeolithic period, with more substantial evidence from the Bronze Age.

Around 600 B.C., some Greek colonists coming from Sibari founded a city here, which they named Posidonia, and they build the great sanctuary of Hera, just to the north, near the mouth of the Sele river. At the end of the 5th century BC Paestum was conquered by the Lucanians, under whom it experienced a period of prosperity and reached its greatest territorial expansion. In 273 B.C. the Romans established their own colony there, changing the name of the city to what it is today. In the imperial age Paestum began a long and progressive decline, until the final abandonment in the 8th century, due to the swamping of the area. 

The city, of which the full extension is known, has only been partially unearthed with the archaeological excavations. Bounded by imposing walls (5th-3rd century BC), we find to the north the temple of Athena from 500 BC (once believed to be the temple of Ceres), and in the centre the public area from two different periods: the agora of the Greek city was overlooked by the 5th century BC Ekklesiasterion (building for meetings of the assembly) and an important building in the form of a sacellum (perhaps a place of worship or the tomb of the founders of the city). 

The Roman city, instead, had its forum here, with the comitium (for meetings of the assembly), the temple of the Capitoline Triad (Capitolium), the basilica; behind the forum stood the amphitheatre (1st century BC) and a Hellenistic gymnasium with a big pool.

With this shore excursion we can’t avoid to visit one of the most famous producers of buffalo mozzarella from Campania. We will witness the various stages of mozzarella production and we’ll conclude our day with a fantastic tasting.