Page 35 - FAST 2024 Calendar Yearbook

Riding Day 3, Pompei to Acquafredda
The ruins of Paestum, and the and the Grand Hotel Pianeta Maratea Resort. On day 3 of the tour we road from Pompei to the town of Ac- quafredda, with a lunch stop at historic Paestum. We side stepped around the densely populated area of Salerno, taking the autostrada in the morning to have more time exploring Paestum. After just a short 50 km bust up the highway we took the Battipaglia exit and quickly arrive at the excavations of Paestum.
This city was built by the Greeks 2,600 years before the rise of the Roman empire, some 4000 years ago, and it flourished for several cen- turies. Then under Roman domination around 500 BC it lost its splendor and eventually fell into oblivion. The beautiful Doric temples became over- grown, but still remain in good condition. Paestum is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. My parents first brought me here as a child some 70 years ago, but I only remember it from pictures in a family photo album.
Paestum proved to be a great place to stop for a nice picnic lunch
prepared by the Edelweiss staff and then spend and hour exploring the templed and just some of the ruins. Paestum, is one of the most important excavation sites in history with temples from Roman and Greek time, an amphitheater, and city with almost 5 km long city wall from different histori- cal phases were discovered here. Paestum was founded by Greeks around 2,600 BC under the name Poseidonia. Magnificent buildings were erected here, the remains of which we got to visit.
Below: The beautiful Greek temples of Paestum which certainly in- spired the architecture of Rome 2,000 years later.