What is Capaccio Paestum known for?

Three Doric temples of 550 to 450 BC at Paestum, dedicated to Hera and Athena, UNESCO World Heritage and among the best preserved in the Mediterranean. DOP buffalo mozzarella heartland on the Sele plain, with historic caseifici producing the fresh cheese every morning since the eighteenth century. Early fifth-century BC painted Greek tomb in the national museum, the only surviving figurative Greek tomb painting of the classical period.

Where is Capaccio Paestum?

Capaccio Paestum is a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania region of Italy, about 46 kilometers from Salerno.

Campania · Salerno

Capaccio Paestum

Three Doric temples of 550 to 450 BC on the Sele plain, with mozzarella di bufala DOP on the buffalo flats below Monte Calpazio.

46 km / 29 mi

Nearest hub (Salerno)

22,182

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Capaccio Paestum is the only commune in Italy where the name pairs the medieval hilltown with the Greek city on the plain below. The seat of Capaccio sitson Monte Calpazio, while the archaeological park of Paestum, the Greek Poseidonia founded around 600 BC, stands on the flat between the Sele river and the sea. Three Doric temples built between 550 and 450 BC, dedicated to Hera (the Basilica and the Temple of Hera II) and Athena, are among the best-preserved in the Mediterranean and an inscribed part of the UNESCO Cilento serial site since 1998. The Roman city, the medieval Capaccio Vecchia razed by Frederick II, and the rebuilt hilltown above complete the layering. The plain has been the heart of Italian mozzarella di bufala campana DOP production since the eighteenth century, with several historic caseifici still in family hands.

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Gallery

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Known for

Templi di Paestum
Three Doric temples built between 550 and 450 BC, the Basilica, the Temple of Hera II and the Temple of Athena, among the best preserved Greek temples on mainland Italy.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum
National museum holding the Tomb of the Diver frescoes from the early fifth century BC, the only surviving Greek painted tomb of the classical period.
Mura greche di Paestum
Almost five kilometres of Greek and Roman defensive walls with four gates, intact across the entire perimeter of the ancient city.
Basilica Paleocristiana Santa Maria del Granato
Twelfth-century mother church of Capaccio Vecchia surviving Frederick II's destruction, with a wooden statue of the Madonna del Granato displayed each May.
Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park
UNESCO Mediterranean Diet biosphere reserve, with the Sele river plain, the Monte Calpazio spur and the buffalo pastures inside its boundary.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May, June and September are the right months on the Sele plain, with the temples at sunrise or late afternoon and the buffalo pastures still green. July and August push the plain past thirty-eight degrees, the archaeological park closes its high noon hours and the beach absorbs most visitors. April and October are dry and quiet, the Madonna del Granato feast falls on the first Sunday of May and the temples are walkable without queues. November through March is wet on the plain, with several caseifici on reduced hours and the museum staying the most reliable indoor draw, the Tomb of the Diver frescoes lit against grey winter walls.