The city was built around the beginning of the 7th a.C. from Greeks coming from Sybaris with the name of Poseidonia. The wealth of the city is documented by the construction of the temples between the 6th and 5th a.C.

In the 400 a.C. the Lucani, an italic population of Sabellico origins invaded the city and assigned it the name of Paistos. In 273 a.C. it became a roman colony with the name of Paestum.

Sight to See: Archeologia Area;Cilento National Park; National Museum; Museum of Heraion; Paleocristian Church; Sanctuary of Madonna del Granato; Getsemani; Historic center of Capaccio.





Velia
At 42 km from Paestum the excavations of Velia, latin name derived from the ancient city of Elea, was founded around 540 a. C. for the will of a group of Focesi that escaped from the west coast of Asia and found refuge on a cliff situated at the mouth of the two rivers near Marina di Ascea.

On the highest peak of the cliff they bould the Acropoli and the temple dedicated to the god Athena Minerva for the romans, and in the inlet they escavated two ports destinated to get importance in commercial exchanges.

Amalfi coast
At 48 km from Paestum. Amalfi Coast, or Costiera Amalfitana in Italian, is a stretch of coastline on the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula of Italy (Province of Salerno), extending from Positano in the west to Vietri sul Mare in the east. The towns lying on the Amalfi Coast are Vietri sul Mare, Cetara, Maiori, Minori, Ravello, Atrni, Conca dei Marini, Furore, Praiano, Positano.

Renowned for its rugged terrain, scenic beauty, picturesque towns and diversity, the Amalfi Coast is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.


 

Ravello
The town has served historically as a destination for artists, musicians, and writers, including Richard Wagner, M. C. Escher, Giovanni Boccaccio, Virginia Woolf, Gore Vidal, and Sara Teasdale who mentioned it in her prefatory dedication in Love Songs, one of her many books of poems.

Every year in the summer months, the "Ravello Festival" takes place. It began in 1953 in honour of Richard Wagner.


 

Pompei
At 60 kilometers from Paestum the excavations of Pompei testimony a grown civilty victim of hisotric changes. Founded by the Osci in the VIII century a.C. it was dominated from the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Sanniti and in the 80 b.C it became after hard fights a roman colony.