Paestum

The Temples and the Sacred Area

When one enters the monumental zone by the main gate one finds the building known as the Temple of Neptune standing before one, the so-called Basilica on the left further north and, not very far from Porta Aurea, the Temple of Ceres.
In the vast rose garden before the Temple of Neptune flourish the famous roses that maintain the tradition of the biferi rosaria Paesti sung by Virgil and other Roman poets; in olden times they adorned all the gardens of the town and were celebrated because they blossomed twice a year - in spring and autumn.

The three impreseive Doric temples that have rendered Paestum famous stand in a large area situated nearly in the centre of the town and constitute its sacred area.

In other Greek cities the highest point, usually a hill, was the Acropolis; besides being the stronghold it contained the most important temples and constituted the sanctuary.
At Paestum, where one would search in vain far a hill, even of modest height, defence was entrusted exclusively to the massive walls, while the sanctuary consisting of the three temples and other buildings of public and religious character stood in the centre of the enclosure surrounded by a way.

This was the témenos, or sacred precinct which is in part preserved and was flanked by a road paved with large blocks of stone. This was the Sacred Way that all processions were bound to take, and it is possible to imagine how it looked at the time of ancient Rome.
Recent excavations have revealed that the town had two sanctuaries instead of one. Although they were divided by the Forum - originally called Agorà - as they were situated next to each other they formed a whole, the elements of which were connected by the Sacred Way, along the témenos recently unearthed in all its length.

The southem sanctuary, which includes the two major temples called Basilica and Temple of Neptune besides numerous smaller temples, was dedicated to the Goddess Hera as evidenced not only by stipae, but also by some graffiti on fragments of vases and by an inscriptions on a silver disc.