What is Capaccio Paestum known for?

Three Doric temples of 550 to 450 BC at Paestum, dedicated to Hera and Athena, UNESCO World Heritage and among the best preserved in the Mediterranean. DOP buffalo mozzarella heartland on the Sele plain, with historic caseifici producing the fresh cheese every morning since the eighteenth century. Early fifth-century BC painted Greek tomb in the national museum, the only surviving figurative Greek tomb painting of the classical period.

When is the best time to visit Capaccio Paestum?

May–Sep. May, June and September are the right months on the Sele plain, with the temples at sunrise or late afternoon and the buffalo pastures still green. July and August push the plain past thirty-eight degrees, the archaeological park closes its high noon hours and the beach absorbs most visitors. April and October are dry and quiet, the Madonna del Granato feast falls on the first Sunday of May and the temples are walkable without queues. November through March is wet on the plain, with several caseifici on reduced hours and the museum staying the most reliable indoor draw, the Tomb of the Diver frescoes lit against grey winter walls.

Where is Capaccio Paestum?

Capaccio Paestum is a comune in the province of Salerno, Campania region of Italy, about 46 kilometers from Salerno.

How do I get to Capaccio Paestum?

From Salerno, Capaccio Paestum is roughly 46 km by road.

Capaccio Paestum, Salerno

Known for

GREEK TEMPLES
Three Doric temples of 550 to 450 BC at Paestum, dedicated to Hera and Athena, UNESCO World Heritage and among the best preserved in the Mediterranean.
MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA
DOP buffalo mozzarella heartland on the Sele plain, with historic caseifici producing the fresh cheese every morning since the eighteenth century.
TOMB OF THE DIVER
Early fifth-century BC painted Greek tomb in the national museum, the only surviving figurative Greek tomb painting of the classical period.

When to visit

Best · May–Sep

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F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
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D

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Why come

Capaccio Paestum is the only commune in Italy where the name pairs a medieval hilltown with an ancient city on the plain below. The seat of Capaccio sits on Monte Calpazio, while the archaeological park below, the city of Poseidonia founded around 600 BC, occupies the flat between the Sele river and the sea. The two halves of the name mark two different settlements built centuries apart and never merged into one another.

The layering below Monte Calpazio runs deeper than the founding city and the medieval hilltown: a Roman city followed the earlier one on the same plain, and the medieval Capaccio Vecchia, razed by Frederick II, was rebuilt as the hilltown that still carries the seat today. The buffalo pastures that made the area's DOP mozzarella sit inside the same national park boundary as the Sele plain and the Monte Calpazio spur, so the cheese-making land and the ruins share one stretch of ground. The commune, in effect, is stacked: hill above, plain below, and each layer on the plain built over or beside the one before it.

What to see

Templi di Paestum
The Basilica, the Temple of Hera II and the Temple of Athena stand on the flat ground between the Sele river and the sea, close enough to walk between in an afternoon.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum
The frescoes are kept indoors, apart from the temples they were painted near, giving a rare look at how the tomb's painters depicted the afterlife.
Mura greche di Paestum
Almost five kilometres of Greek and Roman defensive walls with four gates, intact across the entire perimeter of the ancient city.
Basilica Paleocristiana Santa Maria del Granato
Mother church of Capaccio Vecchia, the medieval settlement destroyed by Frederick II, with a wooden statue of the Madonna del Granato displayed each May.
Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park
UNESCO Mediterranean Diet biosphere reserve, with the Sele river plain, the Monte Calpazio spur and the buffalo pastures inside its boundary.

We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Le TrabeRistorante
Le Trabe has one Michelin star, a place in L'Espresso's Top 300 and a Gambero Rosso listing.
Da Nonna SceppaRistorante
Da Nonna Sceppa carries a Gambero Rosso listing, plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Osteria ArbusticoRistorante
Osteria Arbustico has two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100) and a place in L'Espresso's Top 300.
Tre OliviRistorante
Tre Olivi holds one Michelin star and two Gambero Rosso forks (83/100).
AliciRistorante
Alici has a place in L'Espresso's Top 300 to its name.
Bistrot 73Bistrot
Two Gambero Rosso tables, at Bistrot 73.
Casa Coloni della Tenuta Duca MariglianoRistorante
Two Gambero Rosso forks (83/100), at Casa Coloni della Tenuta Duca Marigliano.
La PergolaTrattoria
La Pergola carries a Gambero Rosso listing.

Living here

Population 22,182
In-betweeni
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 34 min drive
Regional capital Napoli, 1 h 34 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 419 m
Population: 22,182
Surface area: 113.03 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Salerno

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.