Borderland
The arrival of Greek settlers in the Sele plain marked the beginning of significant changes that reshaped the territory they came to control—stretching from the River Sele in the north to the promontory of Agropoli in the south.On the travertine plateau where they chose to build their city, the colonists began laying out the first roads and dividing the areas into public, private, and sacred areas. But they also needed to manage the wider landscape. To mark the northernmost boundary of their territory, around 9 kilometres away, they established a large extra-urban sanctuary.
This area was dominated by the River Sele, whose flow not only marked the limits of the newly occupied land but also symbolically divided two cultural worlds: the Greek sphere of Poseidonia and the Etruscan territory of Pontecagnano.
It was in this frontier zone—both a place of division and of exchange—that the Greeks from Sybaris chose to make a lasting statement. They dedicated a sanctuary to Hera Argiva, founded, according to myth, by Jason, the legendary leader of the Argonauts.
The Discovery of the Sanctuary
The discovery of this major sanctuary of Magna Graecia was as remarkable as it was challenging. In the early 1930s, Paola Zancani Montuoro and Umberto Zanotti Bianco began excavation campaigns that, despite considerable difficulties, revealed not only the remains of sacred buildings but also more than 6,000 votive offerings and a sculptural cycle of 40 sandstone slabs—metopes alternating with triglyphs—belonging to the frieze of the sanctuary’s earliest temple, a Doric building with a peristyle of 6 by 12 columns.
These metopes would later inspire the architectural design of the new National Archaeological Museum of Paestum, where they were immediately displayed in the central room evoking the temple’s cella (fig. 4). The scenes carved into the slabs depict the Labours of Heracles (fig. 5) and stories of gods and heroes from the Trojan War (fig. 6). Produced by several teams of local artisans, some metopes have a sculptural, high-relief style, while others are more linear and less detailed. Some were recovered in an unfinished state, and all were originally intended to be completed with painted decoration.
Around 500 BC, the original structure was replaced by a monumental Doric temple with eight columns on the short sides and seventeen on the long sides. Two large altars were also constructed. In addition to its stone base, several architectural elements survive and are now exhibited in the lower gallery of the museum’s newly designed layout. These include capitals, cornice sections, lion-head waterspouts from the roof gutter (sima), and a group of metopes featuring elegantly dressed girls shown dancing or fleeing.
Each slab—except one—depicts a pair of figures, and their meaning has been the subject of various interpretations: as a sacred procession, a ritual dance in honour of Hera, or mythological episodes such as Peleus chasing Thetis in the presence of the Nereids, or Theseus abducting the young Helen and scattering her sacred dancing companions.
The Square Building
The sanctuary continued to be used during the Lucanian period. Around 400 BC, the new worshippers built two reception areas and a distinctive square-shaped building made up of a single large room.
Excavations uncovered hundreds of terracotta loom weights, fragments of pottery linked to wedding rituals (lebetes gamikoi), and everyday domestic items like bread moulds and serving dishes. These finds suggest that the building was used mainly by women devoted to the goddess Hera. A small marble statue of Hera—shown seated on a throne holding a cup and a pomegranate—was also found here during excavations in 1962.
The materials discovered in this female-focused space highlight the important role of women in Lucanian society—as wives, mothers, and guardians of the home. It’s likely that groups of young women preparing for marriage spent time here learning traditional skills such as weaving fine fabrics, which may have been offered to the goddess during special ceremonies.
The sanctuary continued to be visited during the Roman period, though less frequently, until it was eventually abandoned in the 3rd or 4th century AD due to the area becoming waterlogged over time.
The Cult of Hera
Hera, both sister and wife of Zeus, was worshipped as a protector of harvests and livestock, as well as the guardian of youth and marriage—seen as the sacred foundation of life and birth. She was also viewed as an overseer of the productive cycle, symbolising the broader rhythms of the natural world.
Hundreds of terracotta figurines dating as far back as the 6th century BC have been found in sacred wells, pits, and special structures located between the cult buildings and altars. These statues depict the goddess in a form similar to those found in the city’s Heraion: seated on a throne, cloaked, wearing a tall headdress, and holding a child, lotus flower, or small horse. A particularly large group, made up of many near-identical examples dating from the late 5th century BC onwards, shows Hera holding a cup and a pomegranate—or sometimes a basket of fruit.
Other votive offerings left during religious ceremonies included statuettes of worshippers, terracotta fruit, and incense burners shaped like busts of women with flower-shaped headdresses. There were also items made of bronze, bone, ivory, and precious metals—often personal ornaments. Ceramic vessels used for cooking and serving food, along with animal bone remains, provide evidence of ritual meals held on site.
The Narrating Museum
As you enter the archaeological area, your eye is immediately drawn to a single rural building standing in the middle of an open plain—Masseria Procuiali, a farmhouse built in the 1930s and later restored to house what is known as the Narrating Museum.
Opened in 2001, the museum was designed to guide visitors through every aspect of the sanctuary, from the layout of its buildings to the rituals once performed there. The experience relied on installations, videos, 3D reconstructions, sound effects, and information panels to bring the site’s story to life.
Closed since 2011 due to flooding from the nearby river, the museum was transferred to the Paestum and Velia Archaeological Parks following their establishment in 2014. It is now the focus of a new exibition project that aims to return the museum to the community in a completely renewed form.
THE MUSEUM IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC.
I Parchi archeologici di Paestum e Velia sono un istituto del Ministero della Cultura dotato di autonomia speciale, iscritto dal 1998 nella lista del patrimonio mondiale UNESCO.
The Archaeological Parks of Paestum and Velia; an institute of the Ministry of Culture, with special autonomy and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
