Foce del Sele

The Foce del Sele or "mouth of the River Sele" or Heraion at the mouth of the Sele is an archaeological site that contained an Ancient Greek sanctuary complex dedicated to the goddess Hera in Magna Grecia or southern Italy. It was originally located at the mouth of the Sele, about 9 kilometres north from the city of Paestum, then the Greek city of Poseidonia, which is famous for its three standing Greek temples. It is now in the modern commune of Capaccio-Paestum, some 50 miles south of Naples. The sanctuary is about 1.5 kilometres from the modern coast as a result of the deposition of alluvial sediment by the river.

The complex was constructed from the 6th to at least the 3rd centuries BC, and included a Greek temple and other buildings. It was in the countryside, and may have included buildings to accommodate pilgrims. But in the Middle Ages most of the stones were removed for use as building materials or other purposes. After the best surviving pieces, including around 70 6th-century metope reliefs, were excavated and moved to the museum at Paestum, there is very little original to see at the site itself other than the lowest courses of the buildings. But a modern "museo narrante" has been built there with video displays to explain and reconstruct the site.

The existence of the sanctuary is reported by historic sources, but for a long time was not corroborated by other evidence. Strabo located the sanctuary of Argive Hera at the northern border of Lucania, on the left bank of the river Sele, about fifty stades from the city of Paestum and attributed its foundation to Jason during the expedition of the Argonauts. The same sanctuary is located on the other bank of the river by Pliny the Elder. These differing accounts made the rediscovery of the remains difficult.

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