Basilicata – The Last Undiscovered Region Of Italy

Image via WikipediaThe southern Italian region of Basilicata borders on Campania to the west, Puglia (Apulia) to the east, and Calabria to the south, and has a short coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea and another on the Gulf of Taranto in the Ionian Sea to the southeast. While it’s not the first place you might think of for a holiday in Italy, the region has a special charm that is slowly being discovered by visitors who are keen to get away from the more touristy parts of Italy.
Basilicata offers stunning arid mountain scenery and inland villages, perched on the hills, where time seems to have stood still. On the coast there are charming villages and seaside resorts such as Lido di Metaponto, with its archaeological relics, Marina di Pisticci, Lido di Scanzano, and Lido di Policoro. Remains of the Roman Era can be seen in Venosa along with medieval art. Basilicata is divided into two provinces: Potenza and Matera.
Matera and the sassi

January Attractions of Southern Italy

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So you are hankering to visit southern Italy in January, but just aren't sure what to see and what to do. Don't despair; there are lots and lots of special events that simply aren't available in the good old summertime. Here are a few of them. Get rolling; Janaury is almost upon us. A Palio is a horse race that pits neighborhoods against one another. Pignola, Basilicata hosts the Palio of S. Antonio Abate in mid-January. Villa d'Agri, Basilicata celebrates Befana Canterina. You might know that Befana is an old woman dressed as a witch who gives sweets to the good kiddies and coal to the bad ones. In mid-January Rotondella, Basilicata hosts the Feast of Sant'Antonio Abate and Feast of Fire Festival on the following day. Corigliano Calabro hosts the Calabria Orange Festival and Procession.

An Instep Italy Vacation to Basilicata

Image via WikipediaBy Priscila Siano
Located in the southern part of Italy, Basilicata (or Lucania) is known as the "instep" of Italy. Basilicata is divided into two provinces; Potenza and Matera, having Potenza as the region's capital. This territory is hilly and with scant amount of water. One of the most important indicators of the region's economy is agriculture despite the fact that it is scarcely watered. An Italy vacation to Basilicata takes the tourist to the famous resort of Maratea along the tiny coastline of Tyrrhenian.
Italy vacation packages to Basilicata include an interesting blend of a list of exciting sightseeing spots plus the religious chronicles of the populace. The region's archeological inheritance are famous tourist spots, attracting vacationers from all over the world. The Piana Metaponto, Chiesa della Trinita at Venosa, Abbey of San Michele at Montescaglioso and Murgia Materana are just few of the many archeological sites worth visiting. Tourists visiting Basilicata for some sort of religious intentions can wander around the 24 religious structures spread out all over the territory. Must-see sites are the monuments and spots in Sassi which are considered as UNESCO's World Heritage sites.

Numerous hotels offer interesting vacation packages Italy, including Basilicata. These hotels offer great Italy package deals and guided tours to the wonders of the region. Hotel Villa del Mare and Ostillo di Matera are just two of the famous accommodations. An array of food options is also available for all sorts of tourists. Regional food as Lucana salami makes anyone who tastes it savor the taste of the region. Table wines are also very popular in the region - Aglianico di Ferrandina, Asprino and Aglianico di Matera are three of the well-liked tasty wines produced in the region.

Some rel=nofollow [http://www.touritalynow.com]Italy vacation groups visit Basilicata specifically because of certain events. One of the most admired/attended events in the region is the Festa Della Madonna Bruna in Matera. Matera gained popularity because of the movie - Passion of the Christ. But more than that, tourist flock to the province because of this feast which is celebrated as a religious event held with profound ceremony and concludes with a stunning fireworks display.

Perhaps a day or two of vacation in Italy to the beautiful Basilicata won't be enough to catch up with all the good stuff this region can offer.

Priscila Siano is the Business Manager of [http://www.TourItalyNow.com]http://www.TourItalyNow.com, a pioneer among the world's online providers of escorted, customized, small group tours to Italy. She also enjoys writing articles about tour Italy. Feel free to republish this article provided you do not edit it in any way and include the author bio as well.
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Ask the Italy Expert: Outlet Shopping and Rome Pastry Shops

Ask the Italy Expert: Outlet Shopping and Rome Pastry Shops: "

I get lots of emails from readers asking for Italy travel advice. And while I like to think of myself as the Italy travel resource, I know that there are tons of bloggers, writers, tour operators, travel consultants, and many other Italophiles who have knowledge on specific subjects, like villa rentals, Tuscany antique markets, or wines of the Veneto. Previously, I have just answered readers’ questions as best – and as quickly – as I could. But I started thinking that everyone could benefit from the knowledge I’ve earned as a result of researching some of these inquiries.

So, today I am starting a new feature called “Ask the Italy Expert,” in which I utilize my network of Italy experts to answer your travel questions. I’m really excited about the first installment of this feature because it is all about SHOPPING!

Two readers, Dominika and Niek, recently asked me questions about shopping in Italy. Dominika, who is getting married in Rome, was particularly interested in finding out about factory outlets and pastry shops/cake makers in and around the capital while Niek wanted to know about outlets in the southern Italian regions of Basilicata, Calabria, and Puglia.

This looks like it will e an interesting series. Read On



As soon as I saw that I had two specific shopping questions, I knew exactly who to ask. Stefania Troiani is the creative founder and owner of Rome Shopping Guide, a private tour company that offers personalized shopping tours of the Eternal City, from food markets to outlets to luxury boutiques. While I have never actually “met” Stefania, I have enjoyed reading her shopping advice on her website and Twitter for quite some time now. Certainly, she specializes in Rome, but I had no doubts of her ability to tell me about other shopping experiences south of the capital. Here are her superb shopping suggestions:


Question 1: Factory Outlets and Cake Makers in Rome

The best factory outlets for designer label handbags and clothes and shoes around Rome are:




Castel Romano Designer Outlet elegantly built around a style reminiscent of Imperial Rome that boasts 110 designer name shops with prices reduced from 30% to 70%. Many shops also offer tax free (from a minimum of 4% up to a maximum 16% of the selling price of the goods purchased). The outlet is located 30mins outside Rome (how to get there).


Another perfect place to find special accessories is the Bulgari outlet that carries all the end of series and unsold items from Bulgari shops. It is possible to find handbags, crocodile purses, ties, house furnishings, scarves, sunglasses, glasses, modern silver and also jewelry for which Bulgari has been famous for over 100 years, all to be discounted 30%. The staff speaks English and Japanese. The outlet is located on Via Aurelia, 1052 only a few miles outside Rome.


When in Rome you can also get some great buys on designer handbags, clothes and shoes and if you are looking for Miu Miu, Cavalli, Chloé, and Burberry you should pop into Outlet Gente conveniently located near the Vatican on Via Cola di Rienzo 246.


Antonella e Fabrizio is a discount store for men and women near Piazza Navona, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 247 selling Armani, D&G and Just Cavalli as well as other popular Italian labels.


Il Discount dell’Alta Moda is a boutique near Piazza del Popolo on Via Gesù e Maria, 16 overstocking at up to 50% off goods by Fendi, Gucci, Sergio Rossi, and Roberto Cavalli.


Pastry shops in Rome are all very good. I know many great good cake makers. My two favorites are the historic Marinari pastry shop in the Trieste neighborhood also well known for its delicious “torta della nonna,” it offers a wide range of desserts from ricotta cakes to Sicilian cannoli.




Another one to recommend to dessert lovers is Antonini on via Sabotino, 19 that offers one of the best selections of pastries in town.


(Those pastry shops sound delicious! Best bet is to shop for shoes at the outlets so you can indulge in the cake without worrying about fitting into designer duds!)


Question 2: Factory Outlets in Basilicata, Calabria, and Puglia

There are not many quality outlets in Basilicata and Calabria, whilst in Puglia there are several places to visit for value conscious travelers.

• Vestebene Outlet Storeon Piazza Dante Alighieri 85 – Galatina – Lecce
• Filanto Shoes Outlet – Casarano Industrial Park – Lecce
• Leather Company Outlet (excellent value and quality) – Via Provinciale Uggiano 44 – Otranto – Lecce
• Molfetta Fashion District (80 shops) Via dei Portuali, Molfetta- Bari

Great tips for outlets in Puglia, Stefania! If anyone else has tips on outlets in Basilicata or Calabria, let me know.


I really hope that you have enjoyed this new Q&A on Italofile. If you’d like to submit a question or if you are an Italy expert who’d like to offer some advice, contact me. Hopefully, we can collaborate on the next installment of Ask the Italy Expert!


Photo © http://www.flickr.com/photos/ezioman/ / CC BY 2.0

Tags: Ask the Italy Expert, budget, Food and Wine, Puglia, Rome, Shopping

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I Love Touring Italy - Basilicata

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If you are contemplating touring Europe, you should consider the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Basilicata forms the instep of the Italian boot and has two small seacoasts, one on the Ionian Sea in the east and one on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west. Depending on your interests, Basilicata may be an ideal vacation spot. You can get classic Italian food, and wash it down with fine local wine. Basilicata is among the few regions of Italy as yet undiscovered by tourists. There's a tradeoff; you won't have to fight the crowds to see what you want to see. On the other hand, you'll have a hard time finding fancy hotels. And its roads are not always the best, hardly surprising when you consider the region's mountainous terrain.

Basilicata's population is only slightly above six hundred thousand. While quite mountainous this is the only region of Italy in which farm workers outnumber industrial workers. Until the 1970s Basilicata steadily lost population to other Italian regions and to emigration abroad. But all is not lost. Its east coast has become an important agricultural area. And the mountainous interior with poor soil and lots of sun; what could be better for producing fine wine? Let's not forget that many consider Basilicata's native Aglianico (also found in Campania) to be Italy's third best red grape, after Nebbiolo and Sangiovese. It sounds like there could be a major breakthrough in Basilicata's wine industry.

We'll start our tour of this region in the northeast at Matera. Then we head south and east to Potenza. From there we proceed southeast to Aliano and then south and east to Terranova di Pollino and the Parco Nazionale. For some seaside you could continue to the little town of Maratea on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. When driving in this part of the world, you'll need a good map and good reflexes; the roads here don't always go directly from Point A to Point B and rarely go in a straight line.

Matera, population sixty thousand, lies just south of the Apulia border. This area has been settled since Palaeolithic times, in other words for at least twelve thousand years. The Romans claimed to have founded the city in the Third Century B. C. Like so many other parts of Italy it was occupied by an almost never-ending stream of invaders. One of Matera's proudest moments occurred in September 1943 when it rose against the German invaders, the first Italian city to do so. We'll start with the usual sights and finish with something truly unique.

Matera's Duomo (Cathedral) dates from the Thirteenth Century and was built in the Apulian-Romanesque style (Apulia is the region north of Basilicata, its architecture reflects Greek, Arab, and Norman influences.) There are frescoes and sculptures to admire. Be sure to find out if the Thirteenth Century Romanesque Church of San Giovanni Battista has been reopened for tourists. If so, stop by. But these sights pale in comparison to Matera's unique old town whose streets are often rooftops and whose houses, churches, and chic restaurants are caves, hewn out of solid rock.

The Sassi di Matera (Stones of Matera) are caves that have been occupied continuously by human beings for an estimated nine thousand years. At twenty years per generation, (remember they didn't wait to finish law school before starting a family in those days) this works out to an incredible 450 generations possibly living in the same neighborhood. The area has been named a World Heritage Site and numerous bars and restaurants now take advantage of this unique location. What a turnaround from the days when Matera because of the Sassi was called ''la vergogna nazionale,'' Italy's shame.

Potenza with a population slightly under 70 thousand is the capital of Basilicata. Here in a famous battle Carthage definitively lost to Rome. The city has endured many invasions and earthquakes, the latest in 1980. During the Second World War the Allies heavily bombarded Potenza. Monuments to see include the Twelfth Century St. Gerard Cathedral, and the Eleventh Century Church of San Francesco which includes a Renaissance painting entitled Madonna del Terremoto (Our Lady of the Earthquake). The Romanesque Church St. Michael the Archangel was also built in the Twelfth Century as was the Church of St. Mary of the Sepulcher. You should also visit the Castle's Tower built prior to the year 1000 and the ruins of a Norman fort, said to be built on Roman and Byzantine foundations. All in all there's a lot of old stuff to see for a small provincial capital that was almost destroyed by earthquakes.

With less than twelve hundred inhabitants you might be tempted to skip the village of Aliano. Don't, it's living proof of the phrase - good things come in small packages. The scenery is spectacular; cliffs and rivers, and gullies, and local growing things include olive, peach, and citrus trees. This lovely scenery may be typical of the region. However, unlike any neighboring village Aliano is famous thanks to an involuntary visitor who stopped by more than seventy years ago. Between May, 1935 and October, 1936 Aliano was the home in exile of the well-known author Carlo Levi. Levi, a painter educated as a doctor, was a founder of an Italian anti-Mussolini movement. This explains his unintentional extended Aliano visit. After his release from exile Levi spent two years in France but returned to Italy and was imprisoned once again. After the war he wrote a book, Christ Stopped at Eboli, describing his Aliano experiences. This book exposed the problem of poverty in Southern Italy to the relatively prosperous North. Levi served nine years in the Italian Senate where he continued his fight against poverty. He is buried in the village. The house where he lived is still standing; it is now the Museo Storico Carlo Levi (Carlo Levi Historical Museum).

Terranova di Pollino is a mountain village in southern Basilicata very close to Calabria. It lies at the entrance to the Parco Nazionale del Pollino (Pollino National Park), Italy's largest measuring just under 750 square miles (more than 1900 square kilometers.) Let's quote their website "With its 192,565 hectares, Pollino National Park, the largest protected area in Italy between Calabria and Basilicata, has a wealth of landscapes to offer: great areas of wilderness where the cuirassed pine -the true emblem of the park- clings to the rocky slopes as the wind shapes its twisted trunk; not far away, rolling hills and valleys, lush slopes with flowering plants in springtime, and then endless upland plains where the sheep still graze like in ancient times."

But that's not all. The park is home to a wide variety of endangered species. Many fossils have been found including a very well preserved giant elephant skeleton dating back 400,000 to 700,000 years. Other fossils date from the time when dinosaurs ruled the earth. You'll have no trouble finding historic churches in the neighboring villages. Many of these villages are home to ethnic Albanians who managed to maintain their language and culture for over five hundred years. Look for their festivals during the spring and summer months.

What about food? Basilicata is very traditional when it comes to cooking. As expected in an economically deprived area meat consumption is limited. The major meat is pork and the locals know how to extract the maximum from their porkers. Hot peppers are popular and can be quite hot. Basilicata bread is consumed in many parts of Italy. Locals make a special pasta from wheat and lard. The Pollino mountains are famous for their wild mushrooms and for game.

Let's suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with Zuppa di Pesce alla Santavenere (Ionian Fish and Seafood Soup). Then try Spezzatino di Agnello (Lamb stewed in an earthenware pot). For dessert indulge yourself with Frittelle alla Lucana (Doughnuts). Be sure to increase your dining pleasure by including local wines with your meal.

We'll conclude with a quick look at Basilicata wine. Basilicata ranks 17th among the 20 Italian regions for the acreage devoted to wine grapes and for total annual wine production. About 73% of the wine produced is red or rosé, leaving 27% white. The region produces two DOC wines, Aglianico del Vulture and Terre dell Alta Val d'Agri. DOC is short for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. Only 2.4% of Bascilicata wine carries the DOC designation.

If you like powerful wines, try the Aglianico del Vulture from a local grape that grows on the extinct Mount Vulture volcano or its surrounding hills. This wine may be cellared for up to twenty years. The sparkling version may be either dry or sweet. The red Terre dell Alta Val d'Agri is composed of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and perhaps some local red grapes. The rose version may include some local white grapes as well.


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Levi Reiss is the author or co-author of ten computer and Internet books, but to tell the truth, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He knows about dieting but now eats and drinks what he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His new wine, diet, health, and nutrition website http://www.wineinyourdiet.com links to his other sites.

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