John and Bethenie: Greek Temples

John had the day off today, so last night we decided that if the weather was nice we would try and sightsee some today. We woke up this morning and got ready for church and it was a pretty day so we headed to church then came back home, changed and headed out again. We have pretty much hit all the main areas around here besides Pompeii and Vesuvius so we thought we would travel south a little ways.

We ended up going to Paestum, which is about 2 hours south of where we live. I had heard from some friends that it was a really cool place to visit if you have the time. So I read up on it a little and realized that there was once a Greek town there. Archeologists have excavated some of the town and there are three Greek Temples still standing, and books say they are some of the best preserved Greek Temples outside of Greece.

A little history:
Paestum was founded by Greeks around 600 BC and was originally called Poseidonia and was dedicated to Poseidon. Poseidon was the "God of the Sea, or the Roman Neptune. After the empire fell apart, no one lived there anymore and the ruins there today were preserved by marshes and woods. It was again discovered in 1752 when the modern road was being built.

The Temple of Athena (For Romans ~ Minerva) Athena is the goddess of wisdom and arts.

The Temple of Athena was built around 500 BC, and was built on the highest point of the town.

This is a free standing column behind the Temple of Athena

The Temple of Athena consists of 6 columns on the short side and 13 on the long side.

Here are the remains of a section of the residential neighborhoods. The walls are what are left of houses, stores and workshops of the latest Roman Paestum.

This was inside one of the houses and is the area for collecting their water.

The Heroon ~ A building dating back somewhere between 520 - 510 BC, and was attributable to the founder of Poseidonia. When the city was taken over around 200 years later the building was buried and remained fenced in to show respect.

Some of the flooring left in some of the buildings

Apparently there are snakes around ~ snake skin

The inside center of a Greek House.

Partially lime green gecko..they are everywhere

Part of the Gymnasium ~ the swimming pool with labyrinth for underwater swimming

House with Marble Impluvium ~ This house was built in the Imperial Age and this Marble area is where they collected rain water.

Close up of the marble.

Another swimming pool.

View of the whole swimming area

The Temple of Poseidon (Roman Neptune)

The builders of this temple drew inspiration from the Temple of Zeus in Olimpia.

John and I in front of the Temple of Poseidon

This place was huge, I want to know how they built it that long ago

The Temple of Hera (Roman Juno) which is the goddess of fertility and motherhood

Temple of Poseidon

Temple of Hera ~ This is the oldest temple in Paestum and was built around 550 BC. There are 50 columns around the outside of the Temple and all 50 are preserved to this day.

Temple of Hera

Temple of Poseidon

Areas that are preserved on The Temple of Poseidon ~ Those are some huge staple looking things holding it together. Can't really see but there is a big crack going through the center of the staple

Temple of the Mens Bona (Temple of Peace) ~ This was in part of the Forum Square and was the area where they elected local magistrates and help important assemblies.

The outside wall of the Amphitheater.

Steps leading up to the seating area

Some funky looking bark on one of the trees outside the theater

One of the entrances to the Amphitheater.

The amphitheater was mainly meant for the gladiators and wild beasts and was dedicated to Mars and Diana.

There was a huge step there and I don't think we were supposed to go up there but we did.

The Ekklesiasterion ~ This was built between 480 - 470 BC and was devoted to political assemblies

This is inside the museum ~ Artifacts they have found in Paestum

The top of a column

This was some of the armor they found from some of the warriors. The case in the background said it was found in March of 1990 and has a picture before they pulled it all out of the ground and the skull was still in the helmet in the picture.