Paestum & Matera

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Geo: 40.6687, 16.6061

We drove along the Amalfi Coast to Salerno and then headed inland to Paestum which was a large Greek settlement about the sixth century BC. There are three temples still standing. The columns were made of sandstone which may explain why they are still standing but the later Roman buildings are all but gone. They were constructed of rock and cement and perhaps like in Rome the rocks were retrieved from the ruins and used to build local buildings. The museum in Paestum is excellent with 3 floor of exhibits of the artifacts.

We then began a trip on the A# across Italy headed East for a town called Matera famous for the caves which early inhabitants used. On the opposite side from the caves is the town and the hillside which also had caves which since then have been built out from and are hotels - some of them on a luxury scale. We walked around the town and had dinner and then found our way back to the hotel - thankfully without getting lost because this town like many has no regular street pattern. Streets and alley ways sometimes are barely passable by car. Our hotel is one of those built into the hillside.

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Comments

[crw]

You are now a modern caveman! But with running water and electricity.

[Carla]

Oh, how beautiful. Wish I was there. Lovely hotel.