Paestum and Salerno

Although we didn’t join the trip to Vesuvius, we didn’t choose a free day but instead booked a separate trip South to Paestum- a friend had recommended it . It’s a UNESCO world heritage site and has the best examples of Greek Temples outside Greece dating from 600BC - the site was only rediscovered latterly . It was very impressive- we had heavy rain so photos are dark but the backdrop of the mountains set it off .
The Museum there is excellent and the first burial cyst there revealed the only known archaic Greek tomb - The Tomb of the Diver ( see extra ) dating back to 470 BC . The image is striking .
We also spotted a hoopoe bird flying in and out of its nest in the wall - my first!! :))
Before Paestum we stopped at Salerno made famous by the allied landings in WW2 . In fact Paestum was minutes from being bombed but at the last moment it was saved - apparently one of the Americans cane to see what he had saved at the 11th hour .
We visited the Duomo in Salerno - built in 1076 - parts of which are still visible - wonderful mosaic columns and bizarrely a preserved body of Pope Gregory vii ( 11th century ) - I couldn’t believe I was looking st the real body !!
The cathedral is dedicated to St Matthew whose remains are in the crypt which also was impressive with inlaid marble pictures .