Novi Velia

Novi velia can be described as a small town gathered at the top of a hill. It is renowned not only for having hosted the fortress of the "Kora Velina", but also for the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sacro Monte, destination of numerous pilgrimages every year.
The current toponym dates back to the years that followed the Unification of Italy, when historians were convinced that the town had been chosen as a refuge by the population of ancient Elea-Velia, not only to escape the barbarian incursions of the V-VI sec. d.C., but also for the process of cover-up that affected the port of Elea and made the land sterile: hence the formation of a new settlement called literally “New Velia”.
Actually the archaeological findings made in the area, in the second half of the 1900s, let modern historians suppose that the foundation of the city as a fortified center dates back to the 10th century. a.C., when the Enotri, a native population coming from the Peloponnese, settled in the area.. It is also known that in Roman times it served as a garrison to the salt road that from Velia reached the interior. A first written testimony documenting the existence of Novi is contained in a diploma dating back to year 1005, when the Prince of Salerno Guaimario IV expressed the will to donate his possessions, located in the "de Nobe" territory, to the abbot-of-monastery of Santa Barbara. Its history was similar to that of other fiefdoms that passed from one barony to another.
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Novi velia can be described as a small town gathered at the top of a hill. It is renowned not only for having hosted the fortress of the "Kora Velina", but also for the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sacro Monte, destination of numerous pilgrimages every year.
The current toponym dates back to the years that followed the Unification of Italy, when historians were convinced that the town had been chosen as a refuge by the population of ancient Elea-Velia, not only to escape the barbarian incursions of the V-VI sec. d.C., but also for the process of cover-up that affected the port of Elea and made the land sterile: hence the formation of a new settlement called literally “New Velia”.
Actually the archaeological findings made in the area, in the second half of the 1900s, let modern historians suppose that the foundation of the city as a fortified center dates back to the 10th century. a.C., when the Enotri, a native population coming from the Peloponnese, settled in the area.. It is also known that in Roman times it served as a garrison to the salt road that from Velia reached the interior. A first written testimony documenting the existence of Novi is contained in a diploma dating back to year 1005, when the Prince of Salerno Guaimario IV expressed the will to donate his possessions, located in the "de Nobe" territory, to the abbot-of-monastery of Santa Barbara. Its history was similar to that of other fiefdoms that passed from one barony to another.
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