Thematic paths “Another Paestum” and “Another Velia”
Visiting the Archaeological Parks of Paestum and Velia has become an increasingly dynamic and engaging experience thanks to our new thematic routes, curated by the park’s staff dedicated to cultural services.
Every Friday in Paestum and every Saturday in Velia, visitors will have the opportunity to enrich their experience with in-depth explorations covering topics ranging from architecture to religion, philosophy to economics, and the daily life of Paestum and Velia. These tours aim to showcase the many facets of the two cities, highlighting their unique characteristics and weaving a narrative that spans from ancient times to the present day. The thematic tours offer a unique opportunity to experience the parks in a different way and explore a different side of Paestum and Velia.
Guided tour of the places of the ancient political assemblies of Poseidonia-Paestum, discovering similarities and differences with the citizenship of the moderns.
As in many other Greek sites, also in Paestum the goddess Athena was venerated in the highest point of the city, an artificial hill created specifically at the time of the foundation of the colony, when spaces for men and those for the gods were defined. The temple of Athena, the smallest of the three Doric buildings of Paestum, immediately strikes visitors for the location and particularity of its architecture.
With its two large sacred buildings among the best preserved in the Greek world, the temple of Neptune and the so-called Basilica, the southern sanctuary of Paestum is a concentrate of Doric architecture. The new accessible path allows everyone to live the unique experience of crossing the threshold of the so-called Basilica, monumental urban temple of the archaic era (ca. 560 BC) dedicated to the goddess Hera.
For a long time the inhabitants of Paestum imported from Greece the famous vases with black figures and red figures of Corinthian and Athenian production. Starting from the 4th century BC, perhaps thanks to the migration of artists and artisans, the shops of Paestum began to produce splendid decorated ceramics, characterized by an unmistakable style that merged myth with scenes of everyday life and irresistible comic caricatures. These are vases, some of them signed, that archeologists would have found in the kits of the painted tombs.
Paestum is a Greek-founded city deeply reshaped by the Roman conquest. With the end of the ancient world, the Roman phase will mediate the city’s entry into the modern world, handing over its remains to the cultural “rediscovery” that took place with the Grand Tour and then to the archaeological exploration. The guided tour in the room on the second floor of the museum, recently reset up and expanded to the modern period, will facilitate the understanding of this crucial “section” of the history of Paestum.
“Another Paestum” Paths
Elea: la rinascita” is the first temporary exhibition held at the Velia Archaeological Park since it was granted special autonomy in 2020. The exhibition is inspired by the extraordinary results of the recent excavations on the Acropolis, which uncovered traces of a sanctuary dating back to the founding years of the Magna Graecian colony of Elea, around the mid-6th century BC. Among the most significant findings are Greek and Italic weapons, which for the first time provide concrete evidence of Herodotus’ account of the escape of the Phocaeans from Ionia due to the Persian invasion.
Public building, a complex of particular importance, whose discovery has considerably expanded the framework of knowledge on the Roman phase of the city. Partially incorporated into a modern farmhouse from which it takes its name, the structure is characterized by several construction phases that are difficult to understand without an adequate explanation. Its chronological arc of life and use goes from the first imperial age to then decay towards the end of the third century A.D. when it becomes a quarry of material for reuse.
The acropolis is the most evocative place in the Archaeological Park of Velia. The city’s clot point in all its historical phases, from the foundation of the Magno-Greek colony to the modern age. The presence of the sacred here is tangible and joins the defensive needs of the medieval phases and the residential ones of the modern and contemporary age. From the acropolis the gaze sweeps beyond Velia into that territory we call Cilento.
The route draws inspiration from the extraordinary results of the recent excavations on the Acropolis, which have returned traces of a sanctuary dating back to the years of the foundation of the Magno-Greek colony of Elea, towards the middle of the sixth century BC. Among the most significant finds appear Greek and Italic weapons that for the first time give concrete evidence to the Erodotian account of the flight of the Phocaeans from Ionia under the impetus of the Persian invasion. The path includes the presentation of the two most illustrious citizens of Elea who contributed with knowledge and political activity to write the first constitution of the city of Focea, shortly after the years of the foundation.
“Another Velia” Paths
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The thematic tours take place every Friday in Paestum and every Saturday in Velia.
They are included in the site entrance ticket, the “Adopt a Block” card, and the Paestum&Velia subscription. Reservation is required at +39 0828 811 023 or by email at pa-paeve.promozione@cultura.gov.it (maximum 30 participants per visit).
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.
