THE STORY
The city Elea found by Focei into 540 B.C.
was an old population from Asia Minor, to
flight of the Persian invasion. They built
their city, they strengthened it, they provided
it with two harbours. With Rome,
Elea became
Velia, had business relations, political, cultural,
without to lose its autonomy.
A known event is that the of Brutus´s
flight in consequence of Cesare´s killing,
he took refuge to Velia and Markantony instead
to enter in the city, he waited him off,
respecting the autonomy of the city.
Thanks to mild climate and to wealth of the
city, it gave hospitality notable roman personality
including:
Cicero, Paul Emil and Horace.
The Velia´s sons founded the Elatica
School today it informs a lot of opinion of our
time. It was seat of a medicine school too.
Such school had among
his prominent exponents
Parmenide, Zeno and
Melisso.
In consequence of
a cause of floods,
of the
longobard invasions
and other ones calamity,
Velia left us with
ruins of his historical
importance.
THE RUINS
V-II sec.a.C
The Acropolis addressed only like a cult
place with plant of the shrine probably dedicated
to Athena.
To the old city we
know the perimeter
of
the walls.
At the feet to the Acropolis stand the ruins
of the home settling older of the
city, dates from maybe the VI cent. B.C., so we find the ruins of a little theatre
which dates from the III cent. B.C.
On the superior terrace there is a
ionic temple, that presumed was
dedicated to Athena, and it is in part overcome to the tower of norman castle.
At the point more narrow of the gorge, grandiose
Pink Door, a wonderful arch, that in upper it joins
two parts of the hill and in low two areas
and two harbours which the construction dates
from at the beginning of the III cent. B.C.
At roman age belong two thermal sets, cryptoportico,
that is a public building that occupies all
the insula II, it built in I cent. B.C. and
adapted in II cent. A.D., variously interpreted
as seat of the medicine school, gymnasium
or gym for the youth, boarding school of
the Augustali, priests destined at the cult
of the emperor.
In this monument we was found numerous sculpture
including the turrita head, personification
of the city, the Parmenide´s head and
numerous statues of doctors eleati.
