Elea-Velia: l’abitato della città bassa nella progettazione urbana tra il VI e il V sec. a.C.

The article started from the study of two domestic units that emerged in the lower town of Elea during the archaeological excavations conducted by F. Krinzinger, between 1987 and 1994, under the Augustan triporticus of the Insula II. During the explorations, two mud brick houses came to light: they had been built in the second quarter of the fifth century BC, near the coast line, in an area already occupied by wooden houses and reeds. These houses were destroyed twice by land slides detached from the overhanging hillsides. The review of the settlement nucleus has made it possible to highlight elements that allow domestic structures to be included in a regular urban planning organization. For the overall framing of the housing units in their topographic context, and for a proposal for an urban restitution, a brief summary of the main hermeneutical issues related to the late-archaic and classical settlements of the city (late sixth-fifth century BC) is presented preliminarily.