Elea — Velia, the cradle of philosophy and medicine
The Archaeological Park of Elea-Velia: Where Western Philosophy was Born
Among the cities of Magna Graecia, Elea holds a place of honor.
Together with the nearby Poseidonia - Paestum, it constitutes an admirable example of a Greek polis.
Founded by the Phocaeans, who took to the sea to escape Persian domination, it was immediately:
an example of good government,
an important commercial hub, and above all,
a cultural beacon that gave birth to Parmenides and Zenon, and hosted Xenophanes of Colophon, founders of the Eleatic School, a pillar in the history of philosophical thought. Among the stones of this incredible archaeological site sat the philosophers who gave shape and foundation to Western thought.
Plato would dedicate a work to the great Eleatic, a dialogue between Socrates, Parmenides, and Zenon, appropriately titled "Parmenides". Aristotle would call Zenon "the father of dialectics".
And even in recent and very recent times, the thought of Parmenides and the Eleatic School is at the center of philosophical debate, just think of Hegel, Emanuele Severino, Piergiorgio Odifreddi, and Battista Mondin, according to whom "Parmenides reaches the highest peak: it is the peak of being, the culmination of metaphysics. Parmenides is the first to conquer this wonderful peak."
An Enlightened Constitution and the Female Medical Avant-Garde
Elea-Velia, "City of refugees" as the great poet Ungaretti would say, was one of the richest, most advanced, and cultured cities of the entire ancient world.
Elea had a body of laws so solid that for centuries it managed to resist the attacks of its powerful neighbors, especially the Lucanians and Posidonians.
And the heart of this Constitution was the need to build both equality and fraternity, a beautiful concept that appeared in this place over 2,600 years ago.
Furthermore, in Elea there was a famous Asclepieion, a place of healing that was a forerunner of the hospital.
Parmenides, in addition to being a philosopher and legislator, was also a doctor: his many studies on the body and diseases make him a precursor to Hippocrates.
But in Elea, there was also a reality that has been too forgotten: great importance was given to women in the medical role.
Above all, the Divine Hygeia, doctor and priestess, but the Eteria (guild) of Velian philosopher-doctors had both men and women, a parity that is often a utopia everywhere in the world today.
This tradition then continued in the Schola Medica Salernitana, the first and most important medical institution in Europe in the Middle Ages, which featured great female doctors: Trotula de Ruggiero, Sichelgaita of Salerno, Abella Salernitana, Costanza Calenda, Rebecca Guarna, Mercuriade.
Archaeological Splendor and the Roman Retreat
Its territory, the Kora of Elea, included the entire coast of the current Cilento: Palinuro, Scario, and Pixous (Policastro Bussentino) were some of its ports.
Its wealth and splendor are still perfectly visible in the archaeological remains: the mighty walls, where two construction phases of the 5th and 4th century B.C. are evident, the Sacred Way, the Agora, the Ionic temple, the Acropolis, the theater from the Hellenistic period, later repurposed in the Roman era.
And last but not least, the Porta Rosa, the first example of a round arch, which was therefore not an Etruscan invention.
Like Paestum, it continued to shine in the Roman era, when it changed its name to Velia: aristocrats made it a favorite holiday destination; Cicero, for example, loved it very much. Testimonies of this love for Velia fill many of his writings. I
t too has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is another of the must-see sites that fill the Cilento.
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