PARCO ARCHEOLOGICO DELL'AREA URBANA

The archaeological site presents the remains of the ancient Metaponte, a prosperous colony of Magna Grecia. They are dated between the foundation of the colony in the 7th century BC and the Roman conquest in the 3rd century BC. During the Roman period, the city entered a phase of decline, the buildings were gradually dismantled and their stones recycled for other constructions or for making lime.

The archaeological site includes the urban sanctuary of Metaponto, the agora and the plateia, the main north-south axis, which was bordered by the ceramists' quarter and by dwellings. The sacred area includes the remains of four main temples. Of Athena's, the oldest, only the foundations are preserved. The Doric temples of Hera and Apollo Lykaios, built in 570 BC, have yielded more architectural remains, namely fragments of the eight columns of the façade of the Heraion, part of the cella and the monolithic columns of the Apolloion. The fourth temple, dedicated to Artemis, was of the Ionic order and was erected in the early ^5th century BC. On the agora are still clearly visible the remains of the theatre from the 4th century BC, with its first stone terraces. In the north-eastern sector, the ceramists' quarter (kerameikos) has yielded ancient kilns and has enabled archaeologists to identify an important centre of production of Italiote ceramics, whose red-figure vases can be found throughout the metapontine region.