Where to stay
What to see:
- In the alluvial plain between the estuaries of the Bradano and Basento rivers are the remains of the ancient Achaean colony founded – according to tradition – around the middle of the 8th c. bc by Nestor, king of Pylos. An important city during the war with Carthage, it was sacked and razed to the ground by Spartacus, and was gradually abandoned as a result. It was rediscovered by travellers in the 18th c. fascinated by the columns of the temple whose remains became known as the Palatine Tables which emerged from the marshes, and became an area of intense excavation in the 20th c., which led to it being turned into an archaeological heritage park. These excavations have unearthed walls, a dense grid of streets, colonnaded areas, and rich necropolises, and the remains of the castrum (Latin for fortress) and the Roman town of Metapontum, and in the agorà (Greek for market-place) are three ancient temples dedicated to Apollo Licius, Hera and Athena and a theatre and ekklesiasterion (Ancient Greek for assembly hall) dating from the 4th c. bc. To the north is the wel preserved Doric temple known as the Palatine Tables (about 530 bc), possibly also dedicated to the Greek goddess Hera.
Modern Metaponto is an agricultural town and a noted seaside resort on the Ionian Sea, where the Metaponto Lido stands.
- Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Metaponto
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Basilicata 