ENGLISH * PAESTUM
AFTER
LEAVING SALERNO BEHIND US, WE ARRIVE NEAR THE BORDERS OF CAMPANIA WITH LUCANIA,
TEN KILOMETRES FROM THE RIVER SELE. THE SITE WHICH STRETCHES BENEATH OUR GAZE
THE BEST PRESERVED ARCHAEOLOGICAL COMPLEX OF MAGNA GRAECIA IS PAESTUM, THE
ANCIENT TOWN OF POSEIDONIA. THE GREEK COLONY WAS FOUNDED IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY
B.C., PERHAPS ON THE SITE OF A FORMER SIBARITE SETTLEMENT. LATER THEY WERE
CONQUERED BY THE LUCANIANS IN THE PERIOD WHEN THE ITALIC PEOPLES JOINED FORCES
AGAINST THE GREEK COLONIES OF CAMPANIA AND LUCANIA. YET THE FACT THAT PAESTUM
SURVIVED THE DESTRUCTION OF SIBARIS, AND, MANAGED TO MAINTAIN ITS ROLE AS
AN AGRICULTURAL AND MARITIME COMMERCIAL CENTRE, PROVES THAT AN ASSIMILATION
OF THE GREEK SETTLERS WITH THE ITALIC PEOPLES HAD TAKEN PLACE.
AFTER IT HAD CONQUERED THE ITALIC PEOPLES, ROME FOUNDED A LATIN COLONY HERE,
IN THE THIRD CENTURY B.C. IT LED A MISERABLE EXISTENCE DURING THE BARBARIAN
INVASIONS, AND WAS ALMOST DESERTED WHEN THE SARACEN RAIDS OF THE NINTH CENTURY
DROVE ITS FEW REMAINING INHABITANTS TO SEEK REFUGE IN THE HIGHLANDS OF MONTE
ALBURNO. YET THE EXISTENCE OF ITS THREE MARVELLOUS TEMPLES, WHICH STAND OUT
IN THE AUSTERE SOLITUDE OF THE SELE PLAIN, HAS ASSURED PAESTUM'S CULTURAL
AND ARTISTIC SURVIVAL. THESE TEMPLES ARE AMONG THE FINEST AND MOST FORCEFUL
EXPRESSIONS OF GREEK ARCHITECTURE IN ITALY. THE EARLIEST TO BE CONSTRUCTED
WAS THE BASILICA, WHICH WAS MOST PROBABLY A TEMPLE DEDICATED TO HERA. IT POSSESSES
A CURIOUSLY UNEVEN NUMERBER OF FRONTAL COLUMNS (NINE), AND EIGHTEEN AT THE
SIDES. THEN THERE IS THE HEXASTYLE TEMPLE OF CERES, WHICH CONTINUES THE STYLISTIC
DEVELOPMENT INIATED BY THE BASILICA. FINALLY, THE TEMPLE OF POSEIDON, THE
GRANDEST AND MOST HARMONIOUS OF THE THREE, AND REGARDED AS THE FINEST EXAMPLE
OF THE DORIC ARCHITECTURAL STYLE. ALL THREE TEMPLES COULD STAND COMPARISION
WITH THE PARTHENON.
THE WARM GOLDEN COLOUR OF THE TRAVERTINE STONE USED FOR THE COLUMNS, WHICH
CONTRASTS WITH THE COLD GREY TRAVERTINE USED FOR THE BASE MAKE THE TEMPLE
OF POSEIDON UNIQUE AMONG THE MONUMENTS OF SOUTHERN ITALY. IT IS A LARGE HEXASTYLE
PERIPTERAL TEMPLE WITH FOURTEEN SIDE COLUMNS. THE CAPITALS IN THE FORM OF
TRUNCATED CONES AND THE INTERCOLUMNITAL SPACINGS GIVE THE TEMPLE AN APPEARANCE
OF GREATERN SLENDERNESS IN COMPARISION WITH PREVIOUS DORIC TEMPLES. SLIGHTLY
TO THE NORTH, AT THE CROSSING OF THE TWO PRINCIPAL ARTERIES OF THE CITY, THE
"CARDO" AND THE "DECUMANS", IS THE SPACIOUS SQUARE WHICH WAS THE ITALIC FORUM.
IT IS LARGER THAN THAT OF POMPEI, AND WITH ITS PORTICO, SHOPS AND PUBLIC EDIFICES,
REFLECTS THE DIFFERENT CHARACTER OF ITALIC CITIES. NEXT TO THE ITALIC FORUM,
THERE IS A CIRCULAR CONSTRUCTION, WITH TIERS OF SEATS PRESUMABLY THE "EKKELESIASTERION"(
A PUBLIC MEETING PLACE ) WHILE, CUT IN HALF BY THE MOTORWAY, WE CAN RECOGNISE
WHAT IS THE PERIMETER OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, BESIDES
THE SCULPTURES AND OTHER OBJECTS, THE PAINTED SLABS FROM THE SO CALLED "TOMB
OF THE DIVER" ( 480 B.C. ) ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT, AS ARE THOSE COMING
FROM TOMBS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY B.C., ALONG WITH THEIR FURNISHINGS.
ANOTHER OUSTANDING FEATURE OF PAESTUM IS ITS WALL, MEASURING APPROXIMATELY
FIVE THOUSAND METRES ALL ROUND, AND THE MOST IMPRESSIVE WORK OF FORTIFICATION
CARRIED OUT IN THE CITIES OF MAGNA GRAECIA AND SICILY.
TODAY PAESTUM PRESENTS ITSELF LIKE A VERY LIVELY COUNTRY TOWN, ALSO BECAUSE,
BEING SITUATED NOT VERY FAR FROM BATTIPAGLIA WHICH IS A VERY IMPORTANT ROAD
JUNCTION, DESTINATION OF NOT ONLY STUDIOUS AND INTERESTED IN ARCHEOLOGY, BUT
ALSO OF TOURISTS LOVERS OF THE SEA.
DURING THE SUMMER ITS VERY EQUIPPED BEACH ESTABILISHMENTS OFFER ALL KINDS
OF COMFORTS AND ITS NUMEROUS HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS COMPETE FOR THEIR OSPITALITY
AND GENUINITY.
THE HEALTHY AIR IS GUARANTEED BY THE VERY DENSE PINEWOOD WHICH PROTECTS ALL
THE COAST BY THE WEST WINDS AS IT IS SITUATED LIKE A BARRAGE BETWEEN THE SEA
AND THE LAND.
