Jungle Jim: Acciaroli

We've never heard of Acciaroli either. It's an old southern Italian port city that we plan to spend a couple of days in while we tour some of the sights inland. We pull in and the guys on the dock tell us 80 euro a day (about $100) to stay here. Another guy indicates it may be free on the other side of the harbor (seen off the bow). We like free.

Jenée walks around the other side of the harbor and confirms - it's free.

We move Jungle over and like our new spot. We're a little further out so it's time to whip out the bikes.

And go to lunch. This couple eats their pizza with knife and fork. We've learned so much.

Nice view from the restaurant. It's late September and people are still on the beaches.

Night comes on and we are thinking about going out for dinner.

Jenée is perusing the menu. She likes to peruse. We have a busy day tomorrow as we visit the ancient city of Paestum.

Here we walk into the entrance of Paestum which was erected by the Greeks beginning in the 6th century B.C. The city was not "rediscovered" until the 18th century, so it remains largely intact. Especially the temples. This is the temple of Poseidon (450 B.C.)

Still on the walk in, we see the marketplace (agora).

A small theater or meeting area.

Today is our lucky day as the site is free. We are now in the museum and this is a piece of the tomb of the diver. It's about 2500 years old.

Ancient artwork.

I can't believe the quality and condition of some of these pieces.

We are now at the beginning of the city and the Temple of Athena (500 B.C.) Originally Greek, the Romans named it Ceres. All major, Ancient Greek cities erected a temple to Athena and always at the highest point of land. In Athens, it's the Acropolis.

The temple is known to be one of the oldest buildings in the city since the columns are of early Doric architecture. More on that later.

Walking through this massive city we see a piece of roofing close up. Still appears quite functional.

Remains of a Greek/Roman house.

These are the remains of an ancient gymnasium for younger people. There was a significant investment in training in physical exercises for people at a young age. We also like that the area is very green, versus stony and dusty. Smells nice too.

A side street between homes and shops.

The foundations are all here.

Trust me, it's a big place.

We are approaching the other end of the city and nearing the Temple of Poseidon (Romans called Neptune)

This is a massive building and is of Doric style, vs. Early Doric. Early Doric columns are more tapered at the top as you can see on the building next built 100 years earlier. That building is called the Basilica.

You can appreciate the size of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon.

It's a big place.

A view of the Temple of Poseidon from the other side.

We are now looking at the Basilica next door. The Basilica or Heraion was built in 550 B.C. and was a civil, not a religious building. We see Early Doric, Doric ...

And dork. Quite the pose.

We are exiting the city through this nice little restaurant.

With a great view of Paestum. You can see all 3 temples, with Athena way off in the distance. Paestum suffered the same fate as Ephesus. The harbor silted over, turned into marsh and eventually dried up killing commerce. The marshy lands spawned insects carrying malaria, that killed people until the survivors moved away. The message here as always use insect repellant. Thank you.