Italea
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Route length 5 days

The Basilicata of Roots: Tour Among Villages and Memories

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The experience

L’esperienza

La Valle del Melandro, impreziosita dall’omonimo fiume, è tra le più belle e suggestive dell’appennino meridionale, nascosta e poco conosciuta si presenta ancora più misteriosa e affascinante. Abitata da secoli da un popolo tranquillo e operoso, è ricca di tradizioni, storia e natura che si miscelano in una formula magica ed emozionante. Una valle che dialoga con la modernità visti i numerosi e colorati murales che da qualche decennio impreziosiscono le facciate delle case nei borghi di Satriano, Vietri e Sant’Angelo le Fratte.  L’itinerario proposto continua attraversando un piccolo polmone verde della regione, il Parco di Gallipoli Cognato con le piccole Dolomiti Lucane e i suoi borghi di Castelmezzano, Pietrapertosa e Accettura, dove scoprire il rito ancestrale del Maggio che riporta a casa i tanti emigrati in tutto il mondo. Non mancheranno le degustazioni di formaggi e olio, tipicità di San Mauro Forte e emozioni forte da sperimentare se non si temono le altezze, come il “Ponte alla Luna” a Sasso di Castalda e il “Volo dell’Angelo” a Castelmezzano. Si proseguirà alla volta di Craco per riflettere sulla forza della natura che spesso condiziona lo sviluppo di un territorio e si giungerà a Matera, tappa finale di un tour in cui scoprire la capacità di adattamento dell’uomo che, come spesso accade, produce bellezza e incanto, ne sono un mirabile esempio i Sassi di Matera. Qui non mancheranno esperienze e profumi che permetteranno un salto nel tempo e faranno rivivere ai nostri viaggiatori le emozioni degli avi con un’attività legata al pane, bene principale in ogni famiglia.  L’itinerario proposto vuole raccontare, attraverso la scoperta, la qualità della microdimensione di quest’area della regione Basilicata dove persone ospitali accolgono visitatori, escursionisti e turisti in un modo autentico, facendo leva anche su contesti naturalistici che sono il punto di forza di questi luoghi.

Organizzazione tecnica: Ferula Viaggi, Via Cappelluti, 34 – 75100 Matera | Tel. +39 0835336572 – info@ferulaviaggi.it
– P. IVA 01291770772
Licenza Prov MT n. 14 del 14/01/2016
Polizza RC Viaggi n. 1/85078/319/149476065/2
Polizza Insolvenza ADV/TO: NOBIS n. 6006002472/C

In a few words

Tour

Satriano

Visit to Satriano, the village of Murals, whose historic center is an open-air art gallery. Since the 1980s, true frescoes have adorned its architecture.

Sasso di Castalda

In the afternoon, transfer to Sasso di Castalda, a small village with typical stone houses.

In the afternoon, transfer to Sasso di Castalda, a small village with typical stone houses. Cross the “Ponte alla Luna,” a suspended bridge 102 meters high and 300 meters long over a large canyon, dedicated to the figure of Rocco Petrone, an American engineer originally from this village. He was a pioneer of the space race in the 1960s.

After experiencing the adrenaline rush of this great attraction, enjoy a tasting of local products and a relaxing walk through the alleys of the village.

Overnight stay in Satriano.

Sant’Angelo le Fratte

Visit to the small village of Sant’Angelo le Fratte with its 150 murals depicting the customs and traditions of the small community on the walls of houses, and a walk among the ancient cellars built among the rocky masses.

Vietri di Potenza

Afternoon in Vietri di Potenza to admire some murals on the theme of legality and stroll through the historic center among noble palaces and religious architecture. After visiting the Capuchin Convent, transfer to Castelmezzano for the overnight stay.

Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa

A day dedicated to the two villages of the small Lucanian Dolomites, Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa. Perched almost on the rocky spires, they enjoy a unique landscape. There is the possibility to hike along the 7 stones hiking trail, a 2 km farmer’s path that connects the two municipalities. For the more adventurous and those willing to experience the adrenaline rush of being suspended in the void, there’s the Flight of the Angel.

Castelmezzano was the birthplace of Charles Paterno (Canio Paternò on the registry). At 7 years old, he was already on board the ship that would take him, as an immigrant, to New York. After earning a degree in medicine, he decided to dedicate himself to the family business, investing money and energy in construction until he became one of the largest builders in New York. He is still remembered for Hudson View Gardens, Casa Italiana, which hosted the Paterno Library for decades, and for the five “towers” of Castle Village overlooking the Hudson River.

Accettura

Transfer to Accettura, a small village in the Matera area, among the most famous thanks to its Festa del Maggio, a celebration of arboreal rite during which the marriage between the trunk called “Maggio” (the groom) and the top (the bride) of two trees, grafted and raised to the sky, takes place. It is a propitiatory rite of Lombard origin for the fertility of the fields. The event takes place during Pentecost and on the occasion of the Patron Saint, San Giuliano, and sees the small village filled with emigrants who, through processions, music, songs, folk dances, wine, and typical products, relive their sense of belonging to their homeland. Visit to the Museum of Arboreal Rites and stop at the dairy for a tasting of cheeses including the typical Podolico Caciocavallo.

San Mauro Forte

Transfer to San Mauro Forte, a small village where it will be a pleasure to wander through its alleys and reach the ancient Norman Tower, not far from which you will visit the multimedia museum “In Viaggio in Basilicata” dedicated to the journey of the writer Cesare Malpica (1847). At the end of the visit, there will be an olive oil tasting, one of the flagship products of this region.

Craco

Transfer to Matera with a brief stop in Craco, the ghost town abandoned in the 1960s due to a landslide.

Overnight stay in Matera.

Matera

An itinerary to discover the districts of the Sassi.
Walking through the labyrinthine alleys and the “vicinati,” the characteristic courtyard structures, in a succession of charming views and breathtaking panoramas, accompanied by the guide narrating the city’s ancestral history.
You can visit a complex of rock churches, wine cellars, and a cave-house, a typical peasant dwelling furnished with original farming tools.

In the afternoon, an easy excursion to the Murgia Timone viewpoint to admire the panorama of the Sassi overlooking the Gravina, the canyon that gave rise to the rock civilization.

Overnight stay in Matera.

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