54 km south west of Taranto. This small seaside town has the best of both worlds, ancient and modern. The superb archaeological park comprises four temples, a market-place, a potters’ quarter, a Roman camp and a set of tall pillars known as the Palatine Tables, where Pythagoras lived and taught. The museum of ancient history (www.polomusealebasilicata.beniculturali.it/index.php?it/183/museo-archeologico-nazionale-metaponto) is probably the best in southern Italy, outside Naples and Reggio. Metaponto’s lido, only a step from the ruins, is a dream of pale sand and solitude but the neighbourhood is menaced by camping parks which threaten to wake it up in the not-too-distant future.