Excavations have begun on one of the most enigmatic buildings in the archaeological area of Paestum, the "House of Priests", a structure of uncertain function, located in front of the temple of Poseidon.
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| Credit: Archaeological Park of Paestum |
The scholars, presumably inspired by the present relationship between the sacred place and the sacred House, hypothesized that it was a private residence for the "personnel" of the sanctuaries, primarily priestesses and priests. With the excavation, the Archaeological Park of Paestum aims to clarify the function of the building and, more generally, the sacred context in which it is located.
"The history of this building is long and complex," says Gabriel Zuchtriegel. "Its central position in relation to the southern sanctuary sparked our attention, so much so as to include the excavation in the broader program of archaeological research in the city of Poseidon-Paestum. In a similar way to what we are doing in the Greek residential quarters to reconstruct the daily life of the ancient polis of Magna Graecia, with the excavation we want to fill a major gap in our knowledge of the sacred area and the rituals that took place in the shadow of the temples".
The excavation that has just begun was made possible in part thanks to a fundraiser held last July.
"The Park has achieved excellent results in terms of fundraising," continues Zuchtriegel, "in 3 years € 300,000.00 of donations and sponsorships have been collected. These sums were used for important activities to support the protection and enhancement of the museum and the archaeological site of Paestum, such as restorations and scholarships for researchers. The excavation of the "House of Priests" is one of the many positive examples that demonstrates the fruitful success of the collaboration between the public and private sectors".
Source: Archaeological Park of Paestum [March 27, 2019]
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