BASILICATA BASILICA Vulture MelfeseVULTURE and its hinterland MELFESE erland and its hint a bespoke tour for explorers of beauty Itineraries and evocative landscapes in secret locations of an area that lies off the beaten track 2 BASILICATA Vulture Melfese and the surrounding area Credits ©2010 Agenzia di Promozione Territoriale BASILICATA Via del Gallitello, 89 - 85100 POTENZA Wording and Design Vincenzo Petraglia Editorial planning and direction Maria Teresa Lotito Editorial assistance and support Annalisa Romeo Graphic design and layout Vincenzo Petraglia in collaboration with Xela Art Image search and selection Maria Teresa Lotito Photographs Basilicata Tourist Board Archive Basilicata Archaeological Heritage Department Archive Printed by Antezza Tipografi Thanks to: The Basilicata Archaeological Heritage Department, all the Municipalities, Associations, and Proloco organisations which provided the photographic material. Distributed free of charge The Tourist Board publishes the information listed herein for information purposes only. The utmost care has been taken in checking the information provided herein. Printing errors or involuntary omissions excluded. Last update October 2011 BASILICATA BASILICAVULTURE Vulture Melfese and its hinterland must-see towns... Start RAPOLLA MELFI LAVELLO MONTEMILONE BARILE VENOSA RIONERO IN VULTURE MASCHITO Laghi di RUVO DEL MONTE PALAZZO SAN GERVASIO RAPONE Monticchio SAN FELE RIPACANDIDA FORENZA ATELLA GINESTRA BANZI GENZANO DI LUCANIA FILIANO Castel ACERENZA Lagopesole MATERA POTENZA theitinerary 4 BASILICATA BASILICATA BASILICATA Vulture Melfese and its hinterland In the kingdom of forests and castles Frederick II was so taken by the region that he chose it as his Eden to indulge his love of falconry. This volcanic region is the home of Aglianico DOCG wine, of castles and ancient abbeys where over the centuries kings and must-see queens, popes and scholars, Knights Templars towns and brigands have stayed, and the most Melfi Venosa striking thing about is the deep Palazzo San Gervasio green of the immense forests Banzi Genzano di Lucania Acerenza LAGOPESOLE CASTLE Filiano One of the most Atella beautiful and well-known Federician castles in the Rapolla South of Italy. Lavello Montemilone Barile Rionero in Vulture Maschito Ruvo del Monte forest of epic proportions, dotted Aglianico DOCG, the king of Basilicata horse chestnut, maple, and holm oak Rapone here and there with blue lakes and wines), arable crops, olive groves, and forests that burst into life in autumn in an San Fele Awatercourses interspersed among orchards. This is an aerial view of Vulture explosion of red, yellow, and orange. Ripacandida the huge green expanse, which gradually Melfese in the region's north eastern area, There are pretty lakes nestled in dense Forenza thins out from west to east giving way to a chest of incredible, natural, and artistic vegetation and among ancient Ginestra more gentle, multi-coloured hills laden treasures. Treasures that provide fairy-tale volcanoes such as the dormant Mount with vineyards (the region is home to views of enchanted beech, turkey oak, Vulture (1326 m) around which steep, 5 BASILICATA BASILICATA BASILICATA Vulture Melfese and its hinterland Fortresses, towers, and villages cling to the impregnable heights wooded slopes stretch across land made highly fertile by prehistoric lava flows. There are also mediaeval villages, prehistoric settlements, and extraordinarily rich archaeological sites as well as castles, monasteries, and fantastic cathedrals cloaked in an air of mystery, completed by stories about legendary figures who contributed to making this corner of Basilicata one of the most fascinating and flourishing parts of the ANCIENT SPLENDOURS region. Kings and queens, popes and hordes of the devout, Above, the city castle that Knights Templars, poets and scholars, princes and musicians as towers above the village well as knights, military commanders, and even brigands who and surrounding area, and Palazzo Pastore with its tower, one of the most found a safe haven in Passionate as he was about the art of interesting in the city. In the footsteps of the Knights Templar MELFI Glimpses of the city the impenetrable falconry, Stupor Mundi found his Eden in The alliance that tied the Templars in 1118) feature with the castle in forests. This is a land of these wooded heaths populated by wild Normans to the Church, knighthood-related which Frederick II battles and conquest, animals and all sorts of birds of prey with Melfi (capital of the symbols, allegories, and enacted the famous of perfect places due about which he wrote his treatise "De Duchy of Apulia from crypts with secret rooms. Constitutiones 1059 and seat of various One such example is the to its strategic position Arte Venandi Cum Avibus". The heaths Augustales in 1231. papal councils including Cathedral of Acerenza, controlling links to the were soon studded with masserie regie the council of 1089 that accessed through a small prepared the ground for walled window, which ancient Apuleia and (royal farmsteads), manor houses, and the First Crusade to the has sparked the interest the region of Campania. In fact, trade castles. One of these is Melfi Castle Holy Land) and Venosa of those who are simply was controlled using fortresses perched which was built in Norman times but at the height of their glory curious and those who thanks to Robert Guiscard and Urban are passionate about the subject and on top of impregnable heights. The extended by Frederick II. It is surely one II, concentrated a series of efforts in who would like the legendary Holy Grail Daunians, Samnites, Romans, of the most majestic of castles with its Vulture Melfese, an obligatory stop for (the cup from which Jesus drank at the Longobards, and the Byzantines, together eight towers that overlook the beautiful the material and spiritual replenishment Last Supper) to be hidden right here. with the Swabians, the Angevins, and the mediaeval village which was made "BLOOD EASTER" of crusaders for the re-conquest of Other orders of knighthood than the The fall of the then prosperous places of Christian worship. The abbeys Knights Templar left traces as they passed Aragonese. All of these people left their impregnable by the imposing town walls, Melfi is to be attributed to the and cathedrals of Melfi, Venosa, Lavello, through, and are brought back to life mark on a land of arcane charm that part of which still stands today. It was in French siege that took place at San Fele, and Forenza (where studies each year in the historical processions of even bewitched Frederick II of Swabia. this very castle that in 1231 Frederick Easter 1528 when it was sacked by claim it is the birthplace of Hugues Forenza, Acerenza, and Banzi in August. more than four thousand people. de Payen who founded the Order of 7 BASILICATA BASILICATA BASILICATA Vulture Melfese and its hinterland It was here that Urban II founded the league that led to the First Crusade DAUNIAN MEMORIES Daunian ceramics, heavy armour, and bronze weapons are to be found among the ancient treasures on display in the Museum. the city and was constructed in the thirteenth century when Frederick II extended the city walls. The ogival arch dates from this period while the two cylindrical towers were added in the fifteenth century. The bell tower of theCathedral of Santa Maria ARCHAEOLOGICAL Assunta dates from 1056 and towers in all its glory over the city TREASURE TROVE with the Norman symbol of two gryphons. The majestic Many of the finds unearthed in the area are on display at the National architecture is a lasting testament to Melfi's strategic role, Museum of Archaeology of Melfese including in terms of spiritual power. In fact, a number of papal including the splendid Sarcophagus of Rapolla (left). enacted the famous Constitutiones Rapolla, an exceptional work with the RICH COMPLEMENTS The wonderful Italian- Augustales, also known as the delicate sculpture of a reclining woman Chalcidian bronze helmet Constitutions of Melfi, outlining the rules on its lid that came from Asia Minor and unearthed from one of reorganising feudal rights including dates from the second half of the second the tombs in Lavello. granting women the right of succession. century. Still inside the castle just beyond The helmet dates from the fourth century B.C. The city can be reached by taking the the drawbridge over the deep moat is state highway/trunk road SS 658 after the Clock Tower and along with other leaving the A16 Napoli-Canosa towers it sets the backdrop for the vast motorway at the Candela exit, and is full internal courtyards and the baronial with mediaeval charm harping back to Palazzo Doria, which is constructed on its glorious history that led it to become three levels with an arched passageway the capital of the Duchy of Apulia in that provides access to the sixteenth 1059. The castle now houses the National century family chapel. On leaving the Museum of Archaeology of Melfese (Tel: castle through the Venosina Gate, visitors 0972/23.87.26) and exhibits precious finds can explore the village and its artistic and dating from the seventh-eighth centuries architectural treasures. The ogival-shaped 8BC as well as the Sarcophagus of gate is one of the six ancient entrances to 9 BASILICATA BASILICATA BASILICATA Vulture Melfese and its hinterland This is the realm of the wine Aglianico DOCG, the Barolo of the South ASKOS AND THE MAJESTIC CANDELABRA MADONNA OF THE Some of the other ASSUMPTION wonders on display The Wine Trail The harmonious facade and at the Museum of the interior of the Cathedral Archaeology. visiting wine cellars with tastings of Santa Maria Assunta The volcanic land that surrounds Mount Vulture provides the whose original part dates perfect habitat for the vineyards that produce the Aglianico back to the year 1056. del Vulture DOCG wine whose praises were sung by Horace in several of his works.