Archeonaut - APT Basilicata

THE INDUSTRIOUS COLONY.THE CULT OF THE “LADY OF THE ACHAEANS”Once the land was occupied, and therules of cohabitation established withthe populations living in the area (whichcannot have been easy), Metapontumwas soon provided with streets,necropolises, markets, meetings places(agorà) and sacred places: urban andextra-urban sanctuaries and temples.The main divinity was Hera, here as inthe other colonies of Magna Graecia(Croton, Sybaris, Poseidonia andPaulonia). It was she, venerated as the“Lady of the Achaeans” who guaranteedthe link with the mother country and themost refined temples and sanctuarieswere dedicated to her. The most famousof these is the one that was built outsidethe urban belt, in Doric order, whichwas given the name “Tavole Palatine” inmedieval times.Artemis, Apollo Lykaios (resplendent),Athena and Aphrodite complete thecrowded pantheon that was worshippedin Metapontum, with urban places ofworship (including temples to these lasttwo goddesses) and extra-urban ones,such as the sanctuary in San Biagiodella Vinella. According to a dedication,there was an altar dedicated to Zeus inthe agora, in the throbbing heart of thecolony (the Agorà of Zeus).Metapontum minted coins, had its owntaxation system to provide for publicutility works, was inhabited by highrankingand therefore very rich people,in whose tombs sumptuous possessionshave been unearthed, already farremoved from the refined sobrietythat was imposed by the model of themother country.It was after the defeat of Pyrrhus, theking of Epirus, whom the Metapontianssupported against Rome, thatMetapontum began to decline, withthe disappearance of the extra-urbansanctuaries, and then the urban ones.This led to the sad epilogue, recordedby the historian Pausanias, who inthe 2nd century BC reflected on thereason for the end of the Metapontians“stating that today nothing remains ofMetapontum except the theatres and thecourses of the walls”.How to get to MetapontumBY TRAINInfo: www.trenitalia.comBY AIRBARI-PALESE AIRPORT 50 Km distance from Matera Info: (080) 5835200BY CARA14 BOLOGNA-BARI exit at Bari Nord and take the first exit (Zona Industriale)immediately after the motorway toll gateA1 FLORENCE-ROME: proceed as far as Caserta, take the A30 Caserta-Salernomotorway, then the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria, exit at Sicignano-Potenza andthen continue towards MetapontoA3 SALERNO-REGGIO CALABRIA: take the Sibari exit, and then proceed along theSS. 106 Ionica Metaponto-Matera Info: www.autostrade.itBY BUSwww.ibus.itArchaeological Areaand National MuseumMetapontoGPS: N 40° 22’ 0’’ E 16° 48’ 0’’Earthenware decorationshowing a scene from a sacred procession42 43