Paestum - The Heroon
Sacred building located on the road that leads from the western side of the forum to the temple of Athena in the northern sector of the city.
Placed in the ideal geometric centre of Poisedonia, this space is dedicated to the founder of the city. It is an empty tomb, burials were not allowed in the city, covered with a pitched roof of tiles and an earthen mound, and containing selected offerings. This was the Heroon, a celebratory monument in honor of the person who was supposed to have led the first colonists.
The cenotaph is a hypogean sacellum built in the shape of a tomb at the center of a sacred area. In the underground room, behind an entrance walled up from the outside, a rich set of furnishings was found: it includes eight bronze vases and an amphora with black figures dating back to 520 - 510 BC. These offerings were worthy of the celebration for a hero and the city’s founder could rightly be considered as such.
According to others hypothesis the Heroon was a sacellum dedicated to the divinities of fertility, perhaps the Nymphs, or, with less probability, an honorific tomb dedicated to Is, the mythical founder of the city of Sibari. In the latter case the sacellum would have been built by the inhabitants of Sibari who fled from their city after its destruction in 509 BC.
Source: Mario Pietro Napoli, “Paestum”;
Archaeological site notice
Hypogean sacellum
ca. 510 AD
Paestum, Archaeological site
Paestum - The Heroon
Sacred building located on the road that leads from the western side of the forum to the temple of Athena in the northern sector of the city.
Placed in the ideal geometric centre of Poisedonia, this space is dedicated to the founder of the city. It is an empty tomb, burials were not allowed in the city, covered with a pitched roof of tiles and an earthen mound, and containing selected offerings. This was the Heroon, a celebratory monument in honor of the person who was supposed to have led the first colonists.
The cenotaph is a hypogean sacellum built in the shape of a tomb at the center of a sacred area. In the underground room, behind an entrance walled up from the outside, a rich set of furnishings was found: it includes eight bronze vases and an amphora with black figures dating back to 520 - 510 BC. These offerings were worthy of the celebration for a hero and the city’s founder could rightly be considered as such.
According to others hypothesis the Heroon was a sacellum dedicated to the divinities of fertility, perhaps the Nymphs, or, with less probability, an honorific tomb dedicated to Is, the mythical founder of the city of Sibari. In the latter case the sacellum would have been built by the inhabitants of Sibari who fled from their city after its destruction in 509 BC.
Source: Mario Pietro Napoli, “Paestum”;
Archaeological site notice
Hypogean sacellum
ca. 510 AD
Paestum, Archaeological site