Private Tour Description
Visit the second city of Campania, Salerno, and the archaeological site of Paestum with its spectacular temples, symbol of the ancient Magna Graecia.
The pick-up is directly from your hotel or the indicated meeting point and then we leave for Salerno.
Salerno is the second city in Campania and it is located at about 50 km from Sorrento. The beautiful seafront offers the chance to have a pleasant walk while the alleys of the old town give the opportunity to spend some time experiencing the relaxing atmosphere of the city and, why not, do some shopping.
Salerno was the capital of a small Norman kingdom in the 11th century and it boasts the first school of medicine in Europe created in the Middle Ages and which merged European, Jewish, and Islamic expertise.
The city also offers the opportunity to visit, appropriately dressed, the remarkable cathedral of St. Matthew, built by Roger the Norman in 1076 and where Gregory VII was buried, with masterpieces such as mosaics, pulpits (Ambon), and a beautiful Baroque crypt.
After the Lombard domain followed the Normans of Robert Guiscard, the royal palace (Castel Terracena) and the majestic cathedral were built and gave a great boost to science, taking the Medical School of Salerno to its highest splendour.
After visiting Salerno, we will continue our tour travelling by coach for about 60 km to reach the fascinating archaeological site of Paestum, a major centre of the Magna Graecia. After some free time for lunch, we will visit the excavations characterized by the three main Greek temples known as the Basilica, the Temple of Poseidon and Athena. All three, remarkably well preserved, were built between 550 and 450 BC in the magnificent Doric style.
The entire archaeological area of the city was included in the UNESCO list of sites of worldwide interest, to be preserved as a World Heritage Site. Near the town, at the mouth of the Sele, you can admire the ruins of the sanctuary of Hera (Heraion), one of the most important Greek sanctuaries on Italian soil. The sacred area incorporates, in addition to several secondary buildings, a major temple and a smaller building, called the Treasury, decorated with carved metopes now conserved in the Museum.
We will return to Sorrento in the afternoon.
