Blanda (city)

It was mentioned by Ptolemy among the inland towns of that province; but placed both by Pliny and Mela on or near the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The former writer includes it in Bruttium, but this seems to be a mistake: Livy, who mentions Blanda among the towns which had revolted to the Carthaginians, but were recovered by Fabius in 214 BCE, expressly calls it a Lucanian city.

Their presence in the area was ascertained by the discovery of 38 tombs with Oenotrian funerary objects, by a lithic stele, as well as by the original nucleus of the town.

In the 4th century BC the Palècastro hill was occupied by the Lucanians who rebuilt the village, fortifying it with a city wall when it took the name of Blanda.

After an earthquake destroyed the city around 70 BC the Romans rebuilt the town on an orthogonal street plan, with a forum, basilica and three temples dedicated to the Capitoline Triad.

[2] The city was served by a complex water supply system, made up of cisterns in houses and springs, the remains of which have now been buried under the route of the state road.