This tour includes an English-speaking driver with his air-conditioned Mercedes at your disposal for 6/7 hours; English-speaking guide at your disposal (private - only for you) for 2 hours in the Paestum Archaeological Area - Entrance fees of Paestum
You will meet our local English-speaking driver by your accommodation to start this Tour. After that, transfer to Paestum Archeological area where you meet our English-speaking archaeological guide (private – only for you) to begin the guided visit (total duration: 2 hours) of Paestum temples and of the Paestum Museum.
PAESTUM:
Paestum, with its Doric temples and intact ring of walls, is an important archaeological site and, perhaps even more, a stunning spectacle of majesty and grandeur in the variation of light, particularly impressive at evening and sunset. The rediscovery of Paestum and its monuments took place in the middle of the XVIII century, when groups of architects began the patient labour of drawing the temples of the city. Poseidonia (the original name of Paestum) was founded by Sybaris, a powerful and opulent city built by Achaean settlers on the Ionic Gulf. The highlights of the Paestum archaeological area are the temples.
The Basilica is enneastyle (nine columns on the front) and had a cella divided into two aisles, preceded by a vestibule, and followed by an adytum (probably the site of the treasury of the temple). The original characteristics of this structure becomes evident through a comparison with the nearby so-called Temple of Neptune.
The Temple of Neptune is actually dedicated to Hera or Zeus. This temple was built around 450 and is one of the masterpieces of the Doric style of the classical age: on the base there are 6 columns of the facade and 14 columns of the long sides, which support a massive decorated architrave. Thanks to its exceptional state of preservation, the Temple of Neptune is considered the most perfect example of Doric temple in Italy.
PAESTUM MUSEUM:
Across from the archaeological area, the on-site museum displays some metopes, removed from the Temple of Hera Argiva by the mouth of the Sele river, and some fine tomb paintings from the IV and V centuries B.C.. Not to be missed are the beautiful paintings of the Diver’s Tomb, whose depiction of a diver in midair is thought to represent the passage of life to death: the soul of the man who is plunging into the waters where the journey to the mysterious world that lies beyond life begins. The Diver’s Tomb (dating back between 480 and 470 BC.), so named by the archaeologist Mario Napoli who discovered it in 1968, is one of the great paintings of all time, perhaps the first non vascular Greek painting arrived to us. Hundreds of Greek tombs were recently discovered at Paestum, yielding a trove of paintings and clay figures.
After the guided visit to the Paestum Archaeological area, transfer with our professional driver (no guide) to a dairy along the way and stop there (1 hour of free time) to taste Italian Buffalo Mozzarella (not included in the price).
MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA:
On Paestum area one can have a taste of the most exquisite Mozzarella di Bufala made from the milk of local buffalo cows. Unlike cow’s milk, buffalo’s milk has no carotene, so the cheese it yields is whiter. The Mozzarella di Bufala is native of southern Italy. The name comes from the verb mozzare (to cut off) and it refers to the operation of the cutting of the cheese. This mozzarella is produced using buffalo milk, pure or mixed with cow’s milk. It should be eaten very fresh, so much so that every day from the production areas arrive new loads by means of fast shipments. In particular, the buffalo mozzarella from the Campania region is obtained exclusively from buffalo milk in full compliance with appropriate requirements for farming and technological process: the maximum humidity must not exceed 65% and fat of the dry matter is to be less than 52%. With our Tour, you’ll have the chance to visit a dairy along the way and taste the authentic Mozzarella of Buffalo milk.
At the end of the Tour, back to Your accommodation in Sorrento or Naples with our driver.
