Paestum

Paestum is an archeological site of Greco-Roman ruins about 1 1/2 hours south of Naples. Paestum is known for 3 temples:

the Temple of Hera

the Temple of Neptune (originally thought to be the Temple of Posiedon, and now thought to possibly be another Temple to Hera)

and the Temple of Ceres (which they have discovered really is a Temple to Athena, but they haven't changed the name).

These temples are the most well preserved Grecian ruins, even more than anything you will find in Greece. They were sooo cool! I wish they weren't fenced off so we could walk through them!

There was much more to see in Paestum than these Temples though. There was a roman town that settled near these temples which was originally called Posiedonia. It is still being excavated. However, there are ruins of homes, a gymnasium, a gladiator arena, and an ampitheater; all the makings for a fun ancient society!

But, to put a black mark on all that gladiator fun, the town was thought to have been evacuated as land drainage patterns changed and it became a swamp where everyone was getting malaria! It is hard to believe now as it is mostly occupied by lizards, and we even saw two black snakes (which may have been poisonous, but we were at a distance, and then forgot about them as we continued to wander around; none of us got bitten though).

There was also a museum on the site that had a lot of the ancient pottery and stones that were found on the site. One thing Paestum is known for is painted tombs. There is one "The Tomb of the Diver" that it is especially known for. The walls of the tomb were preserved and found in the museum.