The basilica is a Doric temple from the 6th century B.C., Italy's oldest temple from the ruins of the Hellenic world. The basilica is characterized by 9 Doric pillars in front and 18 on the sides (they're about 1.5m/5 ft. in diameter). The walls and ceiling long ago gave way to decay. Animals were sacrificed to the gods on the altar.
The Temple of Neptune (Tempio di Nettuno) is the most impressive of the Greek ruins at Paestum. It and the Temple of Hephaestus ("Theseum") in Athens remain the best-preserved Greek temples in the world, both from around 450 to 420 B.C. Six columns in front are crowned by an entablature, and there are 14 columns on each side. The Temple of Ceres (Tempio di Cerere), from the 6th century B.C., has 34 columns still standing and a large altar for sacrifices to the gods.
The temple zone is open daily 9am to sunset.
The National Archaeological Museum of Paestum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum), Via Magna Grecia 917 (tel. 0828-811023), is across from the Ceres Temple. It displays the metopes removed from the treasury of the Temple of Hera (Juno) and some of southern Italy's finest tomb paintings from the 4th century B.C. The Diver's Tomb is an extraordinary example of painting from the first half of the 5th century B.C. The museum is open daily 9am to 7pm. (It's closed the first and third Mon of every month.) Admission is 5€ ($6.50/£3.35), but a cumulative ticket includes the museum and the archaeological area, for 6.50€ ($8.45/£4.35).
New discoveries have revealed hundreds of Greek tombs, which have yielded many Greek paintings. Archaeologists have called the finds astonishing. In addition, other excavated tombs were found to contain clay figures in a strongly Impressionistic vein.
