A hot and humid night was punctuated by the distant rumbles of electrical storms. It was no surprise to find when the alarm went at 07:30 that the sky was overcast and the rain soon started. We had been very lucky to have the good weather yesterday for visiting Paestum and for drying the machine load of washing that Jane had done. We had planned to move on today, so the rain should not be too much of a problem. We passed Paestum on the way and close by there were two buffalo farms producing the Mozzarella cheese that this area is famous for. Given their position, these catered for tourists, offering free tastings, meals and, of course, the opportunity to purchase the product. Still, it was good to see the buffalo even if they were in a farmyard rather than in fields.
Regular readers will not be surprised to know that we decided to visit an archaeological site on our journey. The Lonely Planet guide said that Velia was only worth visiting if we were passing and, as we had decided to take the pretty route along the coast, that is exactly what we were doing.
We went inland around the mountainous peninsular with the peaks of Tresino, Licosa and, the largest at 1131m, Stella on a very pretty road with views inland of more mountain peaks in the National Park of Cilento. The highest of these had a scattering of snow on the peaks, probably as a result of the storms last night. We then descended to the coast at the Greek / Roman site of Velia. This has a similar history to that of Paestum, being founded by Phocaean Greeks in the 6 century BC. We normally expect Greeks to conquer an area before they settle it but these Phocaeans were wealthy traders (forced out of their land by invading Persians) and they actually bought the land from the local Enotrians and continued to enjoy good relations with them. They were very good traders and the town that they had named Elea (or Hyele) named after a spring on the site called Yele. They also had good relations with Rome and when the town was Romanised in 88 BC, all of the citizens were granted Roman citizenship and they were allowed to keep their Greek language and mint their own money. Another example of Greeks and Romans living in harmony. The Romans did however rename the town to Velia.
After paying our €2 entrance fee, we were presented with a choice of routes – 'Basic Route' (3 hours), 'Integrated Route' (5 hours) or 'Extended Route' (about 2 days)! I know that we are keen but 2 days! We chose the basic route with the some diversions but it only took just over two hours. There was a lot of excavation being undertaken on the site (and a huge amount more unexcavated) and this meant that some areas were inaccessible, including the museum (early season, lack of staff ... who knows) but there was still plenty to see. The acropolis has a mediaeval castle on it (partially covering the Greek temple, probably to Athena), and this adds to the attractive aspect of the site. The acropolis also provides an excellent view over the rest of the site, up and down the attractive coast and inland over fertile farmland to the mountains beyond.
The whole of our route today was shown in green (attractive) on the Michelin map and they were correct. The mountains came close to the blue sea and there were views in every direction. We had identified a camperstop in Cittadelle del Capo but, without GPS coordinates as supplied for French and German sites, we could not find it. We toured Cittadelle del Capo for some time before giving up and chose a discrete parking place at the end of the promenade away from buildings. Fortunately, a large outcrop of rock also provide some protection from the railway that, despite the somewhat rural area, was quite busy with freight as well as passenger trains.
Photos: The Paestum buffalo farm where they produce Mozzarella cheese and, it appears, lots of Buffalo manure; A view of the Velia site from the Acropolis – the line of the railway marks the coastline in Roman times; The mediaeval castle on the Velia Acropolis.
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