I was agreeably surprised at Pæstum with the magnificence of the principal Temple. I had imagined, that after Greece and Sicily, there was nothing to be found in this style to excite much interest; but there is no edifice in Sicily which can compare with it, as the temples there which remain tolerably perfect are much inferior in size; and those which would equal or surpass it in size, are too much ruined to exhibit the effect of the architecture. This is almost entire, except the walls of the cell, and it is perhaps an advantage that most of these are destroyed, as it exposes the internal colonnades. In elegance, the Athenian temples are far superior; and in the details of architecture as originally formed, or in the perfection in which they still remain, nothing can rival the edifices of Athens; but the colouring of the coarse stone of which the temple at Pæstum is built, varying from rich brown to gray, is beautiful, and harmonizes admirably with the character of the building; the proportions, though solid, are good; the whole is in perfect harmony; its character has been thoroughly felt and preserved, and in the impress of magnificence, or rather perhaps of sublimity, no building in the world is superior. It is as you know of the Grecian Doric order, in its earliest and most solid proportions, hexastyle, peripteral, and hypæthral, with fourteen columns on the flanks. The cella is considerably raised, and I do not comprehend how the ascent to it was managed. Wilkins mentions steps, but I could find no traces of any. There is a small sinking both in the inside and outside peristyles, which was perhaps filled with an ornamented stucco, like those at Pompei, containing square bits of marble regularly disposed; but I think more probably with slabs of marble, or at least of a more compact and even stone than that of which the temple is built. One of the young attendants at the cathedral at Salerno assured me that the Byzantine pavements in that church came from Pæstum; and as he knew nothing about these sinkings, the coincidence is remarkable, though we cannot admit his fact. There is no sinking in the exposed part of the central court, but a double one at the doorway. I must here notice, that you generally find in the published plans of the Grecian temples, a central doorway into the posticum, or opisthodomus, but it is doubtful if such an opening ever existed in the original disposition of the building. The wall of the cell is constructed in two thicknesses, like that of the temple at Nemæa which I have before described to you. The drops of the mutules are altogether wanting, the small round holes remaining in which they were inserted. I conceived at the time that they must have been either of marble or of metal, but I have been since assured that one or two of them have been found, and that they are of the same material as the rest of the building. The sima of the pediments has also disappeared, and there are several little peculiarities in the construction about which I shall not occupy your attention, and various cuttings in the columns, which indicate their appropriation to posterior uses. I could find no traces of stucco on the exterior columns, but there is a good deal remaining on the walls, antæ, columns, and capitals of the pronaos, very firm, but not very thin. On one column of the interior, I could also distinguish it, but thicker and less hard. The Basilica (a name which may serve for distinction,) is very near the temple of Neptune. The stone is of a grayer colour, which Wilkins attributes to its more recent erection. There are nine columns in front, and consequently one in the centre, with which, a range along the middle of the building corresponds. This seems inconvenient, but we know not the purpose of the edifice. If there was a pediment, the central column would have a very displeasing effect, but otherwise might pass with little notice. The columns diminish in a line very much curved, and having something the appearance of barrels, are consequently very ugly; the necking is Sicilian. The mouldings and some of the capitals were executed in a soft grit, which is much wasted by the weather. The steps to this building are not so high as to be inaccessible, and there are vestiges of steps opposite, ascending from the building.
There is the peristyle of another temple remaining, which is usually distinguished by the name of Ceres; but between this and the buildings already described there are vestiges of two other considerable structures. One is an Amphitheatre, of which nothing remains but traces of its general form, and a winding vault. The other is called by Vasi the Theatre, but the people here name it the Temple of Peace. The capital of the
column resembles some I have already described at Pompei. It is ornamented with two rows of leaves; the first of eight, the second of four; the long points of the latter seem to have curled round to form the volute, but these are now broken away. The shaft had flutes and fillets, and an Attic base. The antæ were furnished with capitals of a similar form. The frieze had triglyphs, and the metopes were ornamented with sculpture, not of the earliest antiquity; yet it may have been executed before the Romans had possession of Pæstum; (A. U. C. 481,) but the rough nature of the porous limestone renders it difficult to form a judgment.
The Temple of Ceres is of the Doric order, hexastyle, peripteral, and I believe hypæthral. So far it resembled the great temple, but in other respects it approached more nearly to the architecture of the basilica. I could find no appearance of stucco on the columns. The pavement of the peristyle is sunk, and filled in with a reddish stucco and square pieces of white marble, like many of those at Pompei. Courses of softer stone were prepared for the execution of the mouldings, and we trace the remains of a carved ornament on the ogee, which crowns the architrave, but I could not make out distinctly what it had been. Some tombs have been constructed against the wall of the cell on one side. Parts of the foundation of the peribolus still remain, which show its form to have been irregular.
A few other ancient foundations exist within the present circuit of the walls; one perhaps may be distinguished as a temple, but they are not worth dwelling upon. The walls themselves are much more interesting. At the northern gateway, by which we enter from Eboli, they are much broken down, but my friend Mr. T. L. Donaldson has observed there, what escaped my notice, a curious arrangement for the defence of the entrance. At the western gate they are hardly marked, except by the mound of earth and stones which shews their position. At the southern, are vestiges of a round tower, but of smaller masonry. This gateway seems to have cut the walls obliquely, and the arrangement appears to have been remarkable, but I had not sufficient time to attempt making it out; and perhaps the object would not have been attainable even with digging. Some brackish springs rise nearly under the walls on the north-west of the city, and at the southern gate we find a brisk and pellucid streamlet, the water of which is also saltish, and it is said to be so at its source, some miles distant among the mountains. There is one well in the town, the water of which is pretty good. The most perfect part of the circuit is that between the southern and eastern gates. The walls are there constructed of large, square blocks, and those of the towers are perhaps still larger. Some of the wall-stones pass behind the towers, while on the other hand, some of the stones of the towers enter into the wall, but the courses of stone in the walls do not generally correspond with those in the towers. There were apparently two windows on each external face of the tower, with round heads cut out of the stone, but these were perhaps made afterwards, as they are larger than is suitable for such a situation. These towers are very irregularly disposed, and a large portion of the circuit is entirely without them. In one part we see marks of several postern gates, apparently too close together to be of any use; yet they evidently belong to the original work. The arch of the eastern gateway remains entire. I thought at first that I could pronounce it a posterior work, but my opinion was shaken by a further examination; yet I would not venture to assert that it was coeval with the rest, or adduce it as a proof that the use of arches was known at the period when Pæstum was founded.
On the northern side of the city we find the remains of ancient sepulchres. They have been mostly subterraneous, and covered with two slabs, inclining against each other. There is one circular, and above-ground, which has, I think, been domed.
We returned the same evening to Salerno, and the next morning climbed up to the castle behind the town, and had some glorious views in the ascent. I was delighted to have companions who enjoyed fine scenery, a feeling from which the French and Italians seem almost exempt. The Germans have it, but by no means so generally as the English, and I have sometimes heard it pointed out as a very singular feature in the national character.
The court of the cathedral at Salerno is surrounded by columns of various materials, with capitals and bases of various styles, which do not fit the columns. These support low square piers, and semicircular arches. There are also many ancient sarcophagi, and some of the middle ages. All this roba antica, according to a young attendant of the cathedral, was brought from Pæstum, but I believe it is all of Roman times. The inside of the church has been modernized, but it contains sarcophagi, Byzantine pavements, and ancient pulpits or reading desks. One of these is of immense size, and is supported on twelve columns, which are probably ancient, though the capitals are of the middle ages.
In descending to the crypt, there is a curious ancient bas-relief, with a boat, but it is in a very bad light. The crypt itself is large. It is incrusted with inlaid marble like figured tapestry, and in the middle is an altar with two faces. There are some Gothic cloisters in the church of San Domenico, but I only saw them from the hill above.