Velia

Velia (Elea)
Town and World Heritage Site
View of the excavations and the tower
Country	Italy
Region	Campania
Province	Salerno
Comune	Ascea
Elevation	38 m (125 ft)
Coordinates	40°09′34″N 15°09′15″E / 40.159537°N 15.154241°E / 40.159537; 15.154241
Population	1,000
Timezone	CET (UTC+1)
- summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	84046
Dialing code	(+39) 0974
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name	Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archaeological sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula
Year	1998 (#22)
Number	842
Region	Europe and North America
Criteria	iii, iv
Type	Cultural
Gentilic	Velini / Eleatici
Wikimedia Commons: Elea-Velia
Website: www.cilentodoc.it

Velia is the Italian (and Latin) name of the ancient town of Elea located on the territory of the comune of Ascea, Salerno, Campania, Italy in a geographical sub-area named Cilento. Originally founded by the Greeks as Hyele in ancient Magna Graecia around 538–535 BC, it is best known as the home of the philosophers Parmenides and Zeno of Elea, as well as the Eleatic school of which they were a part. The site of the Acropolis of ancient Elea, once a promontory (castello a mare meaning castle on the sea) and now inland, was renamed in the Middle Ages Castellammare della Bruca.

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 1970s.

History

According to Herodotus: in 545 BC Ionian Greeks fled Phocaea, in modern Turkey, besieged by the Persians. After some wanderings (8 to 10 years) at sea, they stopped in Reggio Calabria where, probably, they were joined by Xenophanes who was at the time at Messina, and then moved North along the coast and founded the town of Hyele (Greek: Ὑέλη), later renamed Ele (Ἔλη), and then, eventually, Elea (Ἐλέα). The location is nearly at the same latitude as Phocaea. (Cca. 1' 20" North)

Elea was not conquered by the Lucanians, but eventually joined Rome in 273 BC and was included in ancient Lucania.

Ruins of Velia

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 in. square, with a thickness of nearly 4 in. They all bear Greek brick-stamps. There are some remains of cisterns on the site, and, various other traces of buildings.

Ruins of the Greek theater

Eleatics

The Eleatics were a school of pre-Socratic philosophers. The group was founded in the early fifth century BCE by Parmenides. Other members of the school included Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos. Xenophanes is sometimes included in the list, though there is some dispute over this.

Famous personnages

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

Gallery

The Porta Rosa (Pink Gate), made of sandstone bricks, a rare exemplar of a Greek arch, circa 4th century BC   The Porta Rosa road was the main street of Elea, circa 4th-3rd centuries BC   The medieval tower of Velia built out of a Greek temple   Drachma, circa 535-510 BC

See also

• List of ancient Greek cities

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elea-Velia

• Cilento National Park website (Italian)

v • d • e Towns, villages and zones of Cilentan Coast Torre Kernot • Laura • Paestum • Licinella • Mattine • Agropoli • Tresino • Santa Maria • San Marco • Licosa • Ogliastro Marina • Case del Conte • Agnone Cilento • Mezzatorre • Acciaroli • Pioppi • Marina di Casalvelino • Velia • Marina di Ascea • Marina di Pisciotta • Caprioli • Palinuro • Cape Palinuro • Marina di Camerota • Porto Infreschi • Scario • Policastro Bussentino • Capitello • Villammare • Sapri

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Italy For official site names, see each article or the List of World Heritage Sites in Italy. Aeolian Islands · Alberobello · Amalfi Coast · Aquileia · Archaeological Area of Agrigento · Assisi · Barumini nuraghes · Botanical Garden, Padua · Palace of Caserta, Aqueduct of Vanvitelli and San Leucio Complex · Castel del Monte · Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena · Cerveteri and Tarquinia · Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, Paestum and Velia, Certosa di Padula · Crespi d'Adda · The Dolomites · Ferrara · Florence · Genoa · Hadrian's Villa · Mantua and Sabbioneta · Sassi of Matera · Naples · Piazza del Duomo, Pisa · Pienza · Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata · Portovenere, Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore), Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto · Ravenna · Residences of the Royal House of Savoy · Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes1 · Rock Drawings in Valcamonica · Rome2 · Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy · San Gimignano · Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan · Siena · Syracuse and Necropolis of Pantalica · Urbino · Val d'Orcia · Val di Noto (Caltagirone, Militello in Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa, Scicli) · Venice · Verona · Vicenza and Palladian Villas of the Veneto · Villa d'Este · Villa Romana del Casale 1 Shared with Switzerland. 2 Shared with the Holy See.