Tristan Hughes

It's called the Temple of Neptune today, but of course Neptune is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Poseidon, lord of the sea and the divine patron of Pestum.

Whether the temple was actually dedicated to Poseidon, however, well, we'll address that in a moment.

But first, let's paint a clear picture of the Temple of Neptune.

It is one of the most spectacular surviving examples of ancient Greek temple architecture from anywhere in the world.

It is the pinnacle of a particular style known as the Doric Order.

It's called Doric after the long

almost 9-metre high fluted columns that surround the outside of the temple, 36 in total.

They are called Doric columns.

A small capital adorns the top of each column, supporting the top half of the temple.

Directly above the columns, on all four sides, is a long blank rectangular strip called the architrave.

Above that is another rectangular strip.

But this time, the strip is intersected with regular patterns of three vertical lines.

Now those three vertical lines are called triglyphs, and the blank squarish spaces created between them are called metopes.

Usually, that would be where you would find carved reliefs, but none survive on this particular temple.

Either the metopes were left empty or they were painted and the paint hasn't survived.

Finally, right at the top at each end of the temple, you have one of the most iconic parts of its design, the pediment, the triangular top.

We usually picture pediments filled with statues, posing in clever ways to take advantage of the diminishing space.

But, once again, no such decorations survive on this temple.

But let that not take away anything from the majesty of this building.

Visually, it is perfect.