Road station
Balentium
Valesio
Listen to the story
Balentium is Valesio, the Messapian town of Baletium, whose own silver coins spell its name Balethas. The road from Brundisium to Lupiae ran straight through it, and the pilgrim from Bordeaux changed horses here at the stop he calls Valentia. Later the whole town was ploughed over, but excavations have since uncovered remains from Messapian times down to the fifth century AD.