Where is basilicata in italy

The cave districts are partly restored, with comfortable cave-hotels and recreations of cave-dwelling life, but there are also abandoned grottoes to explore and rock-cut frescoed churches to visit. Maratea is a small and pretty town on the slopes of a hill high above the Mediterranean. It's a charming destination with some good accommodation and a range of things to see and do around the town and the little villages at sea-level below.

Although the region's heritage has been damaged over the centuries by earthquakes, there are still archaeological sites dating back to the Lucanians, a native civilisation, to the Greek colonisation of southern Italy and the later Roman cities.

Metaponto, by the Ionion coast, is close to the ruins of the Greek city of Metapontum. The extensive Archaeological Park of the Murgia, around Matera, is dotted with cave-churches, many decorated with ancient frescoes. Aliano, the village described by Carlo Levi he called it Gagliano , is a destination which will interest the book's readers.

The town has a literary park with an itinerary dedicated to Levi and the places described in his work, and a museum of rural life. Other interesting destinations in Basilicata include Melfi, an ancient town with an imposing castle containing an archaeological museum, the picturesque hill-town Rivello and Potenza, the provincial capital.

The Pollino National Park Parco del Pollino covers a large area, on the border with Calabria, and is a good destination for walking holidays. Adventurous travellers can visit dramatically-situated villages like Pietrapertosa, high in the Lucanian Dolomites between Potenza and Matera. The certifiably adventurous can participate in the Flight of the Angel - Volo dell'Angelo - a zip-wire over a breath-taking drop between the picturesque mountain villages of Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa.

Both Maratea and Matera have some very fine hotels which are modern, fresh and stylish. The best guidebook to travel with is probably the Lonely Planet guide to Puglia and Basilicata. Since the two regions logically combine together for a touring holiday, it's a useful area to cover. The writers clearly don't know the area inside-out, but they have toured quite effectively and this is probably the best English-language guide you'll find to the regions.

Another attraction in Matera is the diverse collection of buildings related to the Christian faith, including a large number of rupestrian churches carved from the soft volcanic rock of the region. While Basilicata is mostly a mountainous region the most mountainous of Italy for that matter , it is touched by the Ionian sea on the east coast and Tyrrhenian on the west.

On the Tyrrhenian side, the short roughly 20 miles Gulf of Policastro features steep promontories alternating with small beaches washed by a crystal-clear sea. Beautiful Maratea is the must-see jewel of the gulf, and is also the location of the gigantic Christ the Redeemer Cristo Redentore statue that rises from Mount San Biagio.

A minute drive from Matera, the Ionic coast, with wide beaches surrounded by pinewoods and eucalyptus trees, is flat and less dramatic, but includes interesting historical sites related to the periods of Greek occupation.

As mentioned above, for the most part, Basilicata is occupied by mountains, covered with woods and forests. It is named for the Massiccio del Pollino, a massif of the southern Apennines that reaches a height of 2,m, offering spectacular views over pine forests, plains, limestone slopes, all the way to the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas.

In the province of Potenza, the only other major town in Basilicata, are the spectacular Monticchio Lakes , with the Lake Grande and Lake Piccolo filling the two craters of the now extinct Mount Vulture m , surrounded by thick and lush vegetation. The mountains of Basilicata are dotted with charming borghi. Vegetables are widely used in Basilicata too, and offer a wide range of tasty dishes spiced with a hint of pepperoncino. We can mention vegetable calzone , ciammotta fried potatoes, peppers and eggplants with tomato sauce , cialledda , with broad beans, potatoes and artichokes, and lampaggioni salad.

Useful links www. Italian Tourism Official Website. Islands Sardinia Sicily. In ancient Palermo Walking through the streets of Palermo's center, tourists can take the occasion to discover the diverse facets of this marvelous city. Read more. Piazze d'Italia 60" A holiday "Made in Italy" is tailor-made for you. Cerca nel sito.

Follow us on: Twitter Facebook Youtube Instagram. Discover Italy. And it shows: apart from a few very hot weeks in high summer, the region is blissfully quiet, its beaches and now quite good roads devoid of crowds. Access from the UK is now easy too, with cheap flights to Bari, in neighbouring Puglia.

The cave houses, Sassi , of Matera are thought to be the first human dwellings in Italy, delved maybe 9, years ago. But by the 20th century they were places of inhuman squalor and penury. The Sassi lay empty for decades after the war, their inhabitants rehoused, but from the s people started moving back, modernising caves and converting them into hotels, bars and shops. Matera gained Unesco world heritage listing in and is now more prosperous, but there has been no jarring change in appearance or atmosphere.

The Sassi are in two sections, the Barisano and the older Caveoso , where more of the sights are. Beneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto, the Palombaro Lungo is a metre deep series of water tanks dug in the early s to keep Matera, high on its limestone hill, supplied with water in hot dry summers.

They are as impressive as any cathedral, though excavated from the earth rather than soaring skywards.