According to Strabone, it was Jason, after having conquered the golden fleece, to stop with the Argonauts at the mouth of Sele and to dedicate a sanctuary to the goddess Hera.
According to archaeological evidence, it was the Greeks of the colony of Sibari who, in founding in the VI century BC. a new emporium at the mouth of Sele, also built the sanctuary in honor of the goddess Hera Argiva, protector of fertility and navigation. Back then, that site was right next to the sea, that today the advancement of the coastline has moved it more than a kilometer away.
At the beginning, Heraion was an open sacred area, with an altar and a portico to welcome the faithful. Later, a peripteral temple was built, perhaps octastyle, which means with eight columns on the front. And, always outside, the opera was completed with two large altars.
When that territory passed under the dominion of the Lucani, in the V century, the sanctuary was enlarged with a new portico and another building. Away from it, another structure was built, in which loom weights and a statue of Hera, seated on a throne with a pomegranate in her hand, were found. In 273 BC the area was occupied by the Romans, founders of the colony of Paestum. A new fence was built and the building used for weaving was demolished.
The decline of what once was one of the most important sanctuaries of antiquity came in the II century A.D. and later the remains of its illustrious past were covered by the swamp, formed with the sediments of the river. But that remained a sacred area, so much so that with the advent of Christianity, a sanctuary was founded near the ancient site dedicated to the Madonna del Granato, depicted as Hera Argiva.
Excavations conducted before World War II unearthed seventy metopes carved from local sandstone. About forty of them date back to the most ancient period, to the VI century BC, representing the twelve labors of Hercules, the Trojan cycle, stories of Jason and Orestes. The other metopes bear low-relief with dancing girls. All the sculptures are displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Paestum. In the sacred area, buried and burned, thousands of votive ceramic objects dedicated to the goddess were also found between the VI and II centuries BC. and others in bronze between the IV and II centuries. These findings are part of the equipment of the “narrating museum of Hera Argiva at the mouth of Sele”, housed in the just restored archaeological area of Masseria Procuriali.
