The Cilento Coast

Immediately south of Paestum, the coastline bulges out into a broad, mountainous hump of territory known as Cilento – one of the remotest parts of Capmania, with dozens of small coastal havens with beautiful beaches.

Paestum

Via Magna Grecia-Daily 8.45am-6.20pm- Combined ticket for site and museum eur.10; valid three days; combined ticket for side, museum, and Elea-Velia to the south eur.11 (www.paestum.it)
About 45km south of Salerno, the ancient site of Paestum spreads across a large area at the bottom end of the Piana del Sele – a wide, flat plain grazed by the buffalo that produce a good quantity of southern Italy’s mozzarella chees. Paestum, or Poseidonia as it was known, was founded by the Romans, who Latinized the name. But by the ninth later, in 273 BC, colonized by the Romans, who Latinized the name. But by the ninth century a combination of malaria and Saracen raids had decimated the population and left the buildings deserted and gradually overtaken by thick forest – the site wasn’t rediscovered until the eighteenth century during the building of a road through here. It’s a desolate, open place even now (“inexpressibily grand”, Shelley called it), mostly unrecognizableruins but with three golden-stoned temples that are among the best-preserved Doric temples in Europe. Of these , the Temple of Neptune, dating from about 450 BC, is the most complete, with only its roof and p’arts of the inner walls missing. The Basilica of Hera, built a century or so earlier; retains its double rows of columns, while the Temple of Ceres at the northern end of the site was used as a Christian church for a time. In between, the forum is little more than an open space, and the building around are mere foundations.

The museum

Daily 8.30am-7.45pm; closed first & third Mon every month; eur.4, 6.50 including site.
The splendid museum, across the road, displays Greek and Roman finds from the site and around. At the back on the right are some stunning sixth-century bronze vases (hydriae), decorated with rams, lions and sphinxes; to the left is more bronze – gleaming helmets, breastplates and greaves. Make a point of seeing the rare Greek tomb paintings, the best of which are from the Tomb of the Diver, graceful and expressively naturalistic pieces of work, including a diver mid-plunge, said to represent the passage from life to death, and male lovers banqueting. Nearby, attractive fourth-century terracotta plates depict all sorts of comestibles – sweets, fruit and cheese, and a set of weathered archaic-period Greek metopes from another temple at the mouth of the Sele River, a few kilometers north, shows scenes of fighting and hunting. The first floor hosts a new exhibit of Neolithic, Bronze and early Stone Age daggers and pots plus other prehistoric bits and bobs, while the second floor is devoted to Roman finds: the highlights here include a statue of an abstracted-looking Pan with his pipes, a third-century relief showing a baby in pointed hat and amulets, and a sarcophagus cover of a tenderly embracing couple.

Agropoli

AGROPOLI, the first town you reach south of Paestum, makes a good base for visiting the ruins, with its blend of peaceful old quarter, heaped on a headland, and the new, modern centre down below, stretched along a long sandy beach. It’s a nice place to spend a few days, with a vivacious main-street passeggiata.

Santa Maria di Castellabate

SANTA MARIA DI CASTELLABATE is a pkleasant and lively seaside town with an animated waterfront which forms the start of a lovely crescent of sand running round to the next town along, the less alluring San Marco. Its beaches are Santa Maria’s highlight – the first stretches are given over to beach bars and an exxelent waterside hotel, with other, free stretchers beyond – but the old town is also worth exploring. High on a hill a couple of kilometers inland, its intriguing little enclosed square is almost Moorish in style with arches, passageways and tremendous views.

Elena-Velia

Piano di Velia Ascea-Daily 9am to 1hr before sunset, eur.3,eur.11 with Paestum (www.eleavelia.it)
Some 35km from Santa Maria, the site of Elena-Velia comprises the ruins of the Hellenistic town of Elea, founded around 540 BC. An important port and cultural centre, it had its own school of philosophy founded by Parmenides, then later became a favourite holiday resort for wealthy Romans (who called in Velia) – Horace was just one of many who came here on the advice of his doctor. The decline of Elea-Velia parallels that Paestum – malarial swamp rendering much of the area uninhabitable – though the upper reaches were lived in until the fifteenth century. However, the remains of Elea-Velia are considerably more decimated than those of Paestum and the town was never as crucial a centre, with nothing like as many temples. At the top of the site the “Porta Rosa”, named after the wife of the archeologist who conducted the first investigations, is one of the earliest aches ever found – and the first indication to experts that the Greeks knew how the construct such things. Across from here, the Acropolis on the next peak has relics of an amphitheatre and a temple, together with a massive Norman tower – visible for some distance.

Palinuro

Some 25km south of Elea-Velia, cheerful PALINURO is the southernmost and liveliest of the Cilento coast’s resorts. Named after the legendary pilot of the Aeneid (who is supposed to have downed here), the town makes a good base for visiting Elea-Velia and for beach-bumming – the sea here is one of the cleanest and loveliest spots along the coast, tough it can get packed out. From the busy harbour, you can explore the stunning craggy coast of the Capo Palinuro, studded with a series of caves, either by taking a guided boat tour (eur 15) or – more fun – by renting a motorboat (eur.35 for 2hr, plus around eur.10 for petrol).