, alternate_name = Hyele, Ele, Elea , image = Velia Excavation and Tower.jpg , alt = , caption = View of the excavations and the tower at Velia , map_type = Italy , map_alt = , map_size = , relief = , coordinates = , location = Velia, Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy , region =

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...

, type = Settlement , part_of = , length = , width = , area = , height = , builder = Settlers from Phocaea , material = , built = Between 538 and 535 BC , abandoned = , epochs = , cultures = , dependency_of = , occupants =

Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (; grc-gre, Παρμενίδης ὁ Ἐλεάτης; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Magna Graecia. Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Elea, from a wealthy and illustrious family. His dates a ...

, Zeno, Statius , event = , excavations = , archaeologists = , condition = , ownership = , management = Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Salerno, Avellino, Benevento e Caserta , public_access = , website
Parco archeologico di Elea-Velia
, notes = Lucania Velia Silver Nomos

Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city of

on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele ( grc, Ὑέλη) around 538–535 BC. The name later changed to Ele and then Elea (; grc, Ἐλέα) before it became known by its current Latin and Italian name during the Roman era. Its ruins are located in the

Cilento Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important Tourism, tourist area of southern Italy. Cilento is known as one of the centers of Mediterranean diet. Geograph ...

region near the modern village Velia, which was named after the ancient city. The village is a '' frazione'' of the '' comune'' Ascea in the Province of Salerno, Campania, Italy. The city was known for being the home of the philosophers

and Zeno of Elea, as well as the

Eleatic school The Eleatics were a group of pre-Socratic philosophers in the 5th century BC centered around the ancient Italian Greek colony of Elea ( grc, Ἐλέα), located in present-day Campania in southern Italy. The primary philosophers who are associat ...

of which they were a part. The site of the

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

of ancient Elea was once a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...

called Castello a Mare, meaning "castle on the sea" in Italian. It now lies inland and was renamed to Castellammare della Bruca in the Middle Ages.

Geography

The town is situated close to the Tyrrhenian coast in a hill zone nearby Marina di Casalvelino and Marina di Ascea, on a road linking Agropoli to the southern Cilentan Coast. Its population is mainly located in the plain by the sea (surrounding the southern part of the ancient ruins) and in the hill zones of Enotria, Bosco and Scifro. Velia also had a railway station on the Naples-Salerno-Reggio Calabria line, closed at the end of the 1970s.

History

According to Herodotus, in 545 BC Ionian Greeks fled Phocaea, in modern Turkey, which was being besieged by the Persians. After some wanderings (8 to 10 years) at sea, they stopped in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

, where they were probably joined by Xenophanes, who was at the time at

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

, and then moved north along the coast and founded the town of Hyele, later renamed Ele and then, eventually, Elea. The location is nearly at the same latitude as Phocaea. Elea was not conquered by the

Lucanians The Lucanians ( la, Lucani) were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so thei ...

, but eventually joined Rome in 273 BC and was included in ancient Lucania. According to Book 6 of Virgil's '' Aeneid'', Velia is the place where the body of Palinurus washed ashore.

Ruins

Remains of the city walls, with traces of one gate and several towers, of a total length of over three miles, still exist, and belong to three different periods, in all of which the crystalline limestone of the locality is used. Bricks were also employed in later times; their form is peculiar to this place, each having two rectangular channels on one side, and being about 1.5 inches square, with a thickness of nearly 4 inches They all bear Greek brick-stamps. There are some remains of cisterns on the site, and, various other traces of buildings. In February 2022, archaeologists from the Velia excavation reported the discovery of two well-preserved

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

Greek helmets with Etruscan design, the remains of a painted brick wall and vases at the site of Velia. According to Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, the excavation included metal fragments from weapons, vases with the

Greek inscription The Greek-language inscriptions and epigraphy are a major source for understanding of the society, language and history of ancient Greece and other Greek-speaking or Greek-controlled areas. Greek inscriptions may occur on stone slabs, pottery ost ...

for "sacred".

Eleatics

The Eleatics were a school of pre-Socratic philosophers. The group was founded in the early 5th century BC by

. Other members of the school included Zeno of Elea and

Melissus of Samos Melissus of Samos (; grc, Μέλισσος ὁ Σάμιος; ) was the third and last member of the ancient school of Eleatic philosophy, whose other members included Zeno and Parmenides. Little is known about his life, except that he was the co ...

. Xenophanes is sometimes included in the list, though there is some dispute over this.

Famous residents

*The father of the Roman poet Publius Papinius Statius was born in Hyele (''Silv'' 5.3.127). *

, philosopher and founder of the Eleatics * Zeno of Elea, Eleatic philosopher known for his paradoxes

Gallery

References

External links

Official website

Cilento National Park website
{{authority control Populated places established in the 6th century BC Phocaean colonies Ionian colonies in Magna Graecia Roman towns and cities in Magna Grecia World Heritage Sites in Italy Frazioni of the Province of Salerno Localities of Cilento Former populated places in Italy Greek colonies in Lucania Archaeological sites in Campania Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Italy National museums of Italy