Ten kilometers south of the city of Crotone, on the Capo Colonna promontory, where the great Heraion Lakinion once stood, today stands the homonymous Archaeological Park created by the Superintendent for the Archaeological Heritage of Calabria. The Park extends over 30 hectares of land used for excavations, and another 20 hectares dedicated to forest and Mediterranean scrub. Among the most renowned sacred areas in the entire Mediterranean basin, the famous Heraion Lakinion revolved around the majestic sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Hera Lacinia.
The entrance to the Park consists of the new Archaeological Museum, a structure with three pavilions recessed into the ground to reduce environmental impact, which houses the finds uncovered in the excavation area in front. A long tree-lined avenue, immersed in lush Mediterranean scrub, leads to the first evidence of the Archaeological Park. At the end of the avenue, the 6th century BC city wall appears, later reinforced by the Romans and with the opus reticulatum clearly visible. Crossing the entrance of the Sacred Way, 8.5 meters wide and partly discovered in 1987, one enters the area of the Hera Lacinia sanctuary, well protected by the large curtain wall reinforced to the north and south by two external towers. The sacred area is divided into two east-oriented zones, crossed by the solemn Sacred Way. Aligned along the north side is the Katagogion, an inn for privileged pilgrims, equipped with a peristyle with stuccoed columns and Doric order capitals from the second half of the 4th century BC. Also from this period is the Hestiatorion, a banquet hall located along the south side of the path. These two buildings have not yet been fully investigated. Opposite the entrance of the Sacred Way, on the east side of the Capo Colonna promontory, stands the temple of Hera Lacinia, the highlight of the entire Archaeological Park. In Doric style with a rectangular plan of 6×19 columns, it dates back to the 5th century BC. Today only one surviving column with stylobate remains of the majestic temple, Doric in style, 8.5 meters high with 20 flat flutes, and the massive base composed of 10 levels of squared blocks. Next to the temple, the foundations of a large building called B with a rectangular plan of 22×9 meters have been identified. In the area outside the sanctuary, but still within the Archaeological Park, several domestic environments have been excavated, suggesting the lodgings of priests, a Roman thermal balneum, and a Roman villa both dating from the 3rd century AD.
The substantial objects found during the excavations in the Archaeological Park are divided among the various museums of the city of Crotone. The latest finds are housed in the new and adjacent Museum of Capo Colonna, while some pre-colonial era items are displayed in the Antiquarium of Torre Nao, located inside the Archaeological Park. In the better-equipped National Archaeological Museum of Crotone are arranged the first artifacts from the archaic age and especially the precious Treasure of Hera.
Information about the National Museum and Archaeological Park of Capo Colonna
Via per Capo Colonna
88900 Crotone (Crotone)
0962934814
Source: MIBACT
