Velia, Or Elea, an ancient Greek city on the W. coast of southern Italy, believed to have been settled by Ionian colonists from Phocsea about 544 B. C. Like their compatriots in Massilia, they were celebrated for commercial enterprise. The city was the birthplace of the philosophers Parmenides and Zeno, the disciples of Xenophanes of Colophon, and with him founders of the Eleatic school of philosophy. (See Eleatic School.) Under the Roman republic it was mainly noted as a pleasant resort on account of its fine climate. It was an episcopal see from the" early ages of Christianity till the end of the 6th century. Its subsequent destruction has been ascribed to the ravages of the Saracens during the 8th and 9th centuries. The ruins of Velia are on a low ridge about 1½ m. from the mouth of the Alento (anc. Hales), in the province of Principal Citeriore and ½ m. from the coast. A mediaeval castle and the village of Castellaimtre della Bruce or Brucea mark the site of the ancient city. Excavations were undertaken here in 1874 by Salazaro.