The Temple of Poseidon (foreground) and Temple of Hera (background) in the too-seldom-visited site of Paestum, Italy.

Paestum is in Italy, and was once a Roman city, but it started out as the Greek colony of Poseidonia. The Temple of Poseidon (built around 460-450 BC) is the largest and best-preserved of Paestum’s temples. But in actually, nobody knows for sure which god / goddess it was originally dedicated to; given the city’s original name, it may well have been dedicated to the city’s namesake — but maybe not.

Meanwhile, the Temple of Hera is the oldest of Paestum’s three great Doric temples, and was built between about 560 and 520 BC. For some time, it was just called the Basilica (before anyone knew it was a temple), it’s now known to be a temple but it’s not known if it was originally dedicated to Hera.

Paestum is a scenic site to visit, and should you find yourself in / near Naples, it’s easy to reach by train. Most likely, you’ll also find it uncrowded, since it seems to be off the usual tourist circuit. Want to know more about Paestum? The Open University created a series of YouTube videos — part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.

EXIF:
Olympus E-M1III, M.Zuiko 8-25mm f/4 lens
f/11, 1/250 sec, 10mm, ISO 200