A tiny paradise in the south of Italy kissed by two seas
BASILICATA
A tiny southern region,
occupied for the most part by hills mountains and reached for short
sections of coast line both by the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian Seas.The slim plain situated at the center of the region and enclosed among forested hills and mountains, was given to frequent seawater floods which altered the coastline and transformed the place into marshes. For this reason the land remained almost inhabited until the Lucanian people settled among the caves of the Lucanian mountains.
The ancient name Lucania comes right after the first known settlers, the Lucanians people (in latin "people from the forests"). This name is still used and you could easily find it instead of Basilicata. After them the Sannites tribes and then the Greeks conquered it in the 7th century B.C. They founded some Greek colonies such as Siris, Metaponto and Eraclea and started to develop rudimentary agriculture and to encourage commerce.
In the 3rd century it was the Romans turn to colonize the region and they carried into effect a policy of draining and deforestation to provide wood for building cities and fields to cultivate. The Byzantines followed at the fall of the Romans and gave the region its current name of Basilicata.
Basilicata is one of the poorest areas of the peninsula and after the unification of Italy in the late 19th century, the government sequestered enormous plots of lands from the Roman Catholic Pontiffs and distributed it to some noble families hoping to restore economy. Unfortunately these families had little interest in developing it, and the result was a never ending decline that as a result, the area languished and the socio-economical decline continued. The extreme poverty of the inhabitants saw the origin of the phenomenon of brigantaggio, "rule of bandits".
Only after WWII the creation of some small agricultural companies brought some small improvements in the organization and brought some stability and prosperity to this poor region. The discovery of methane-fields between the 1960s and 1970s brought to the region petrol-chemical and fiber plants industries and finally jobs to the inhabitants.
CITIES
Potenza, Matera
ART AND CULTURE
The "caves of Matera" (I "sassi di Matera" in Italian), proclaimed by UNESCO (the UN organization that deals with education, science and culture) "heritage of humanity" are one of the most ancient, unique and extraordinary human settlements in the world and they have drawn the attention of scholars and artists from all over the world.
The "caves" were transformed into houses digging out the tufa rock and the walls were constructed with the excavated material. Inhabited until recently they are now empty and the government has organized a series of projects of cultural and tourist revaluation and restoration. Remember to visit the "caves of Matera". It could become a truly unique experience.
THINGS TO DO
A part from the Caves of
Matera, other places to visit in this small, secluded but beautiful
region are the Greek ruins in Metaponto, the medieval churches and
castles in Melfi and Lagopesole and the unspoiled countryside
(Basilicata shares with Calabria the park of Pollino).
