Paestum

blogger

Paestum

Posted by Vikas Acharya on November 25, 2016

Un po' di pepe

The first time I saw Paestum I was 11 years old. Even then, I was an archeology and mythology nerd and was fascinated by the wonders of this place.  It took many years, but I finally went back to Paestum this year! It was every bit as enchanting as it was then-maybe even more!

Paestum was founded around 600 BC by Greek colonists from Sybaris, a Greek colony in Calabria. They named it Poseidonia, after Poseidon, Greek God of the sea. Poseidonia became a prosperous trade center in Magna Grecia, the Greek colonies in Southern Italia. They even minted their own coins.  The Lucanians took over around 390 BC and called it Paistom.  In 273 BC, the Romans conquered, Latinized the name to Paestum, and constructed more buildings. Paestum was partially damaged by an earthquake after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.  In the 5^th Century AD with Christianity came…

View original post 617 more words