The best walks and hikes in Sic Valle Basento Grassano Scalo

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Ascent of Monte Croce super!

Medieval village of Norman origin with one of the best preserved historic centers in Basilicata. Famous above all for the Norman tower that stands out on the skyline of the city.

It is a really tiny town, one of the smallest in Basilicata. It is located in the park of the small Lucanian dolomites and is surrounded by nature. Around the old part of the city there is a small stone road which makes it possible to circumnavigate the village.

Located about 40 kilometers from Matera, Grassano is a beautiful village with medieval characteristics with its exposed stone buildings. The church of San Giovanni Battista is very beautiful.

Oliveto Lucano is an Italian town of 386 inhabitants [1] in the province of Matera in Basilicata. It is located on a small hill surrounded by olive plantations and is located within the Natural Park of Gallipoli Cognato - Piccole Dolomiti Lucane. The small town rises at the foot of Mount Croccia, where there is an important archaeological area where there is the megalithic complex called Petre de la Mola, located in an area rich in woods. The town is located at 546 m a.s.l. in the north-western part of the province and borders to the north with the municipality of Calciano (13 km), to the east with Garaguso (7 km), to the south with San Mauro Forte (15 km) and to the west with Accettura (12 km). It is 66 km from Matera and 49 km from the regional capital Potenza. It is part of the Medio Basento Mountain Community. In Oliveto Lucano, as in other towns in the interior of Basilicata, there is the May feast [4], an ancient arboreal rite of pagan origins inserted in the religious feast of San Cipriano, protector of Oliveto. The Maggio is the trunk of a Turkey oak tree, which is felled on the first Sunday of August, leafless and pulled into the village on August 10, the day of the start of the patronal feast, to the sound of bagpipes and accordions. On that same day, still in the woods surrounding Oliveto Lucano, a holly top is cut down, and it is carried on the back to the village between songs and dances. The Maggio (the groom) and the Cima (the bride) enter the town at dusk, and on August 12, the day of the San Cipriano procession, the Cima is grafted onto the Maggio and together they are erected in the town square.

The settlement develops on a hill, 1150 meters above sea level, dominating the centers of Civita and Serra del Cedro di Tricarico, Accettura, Albano, lapped by important transversal routes connecting the high valleys of the Basento del Bradano and of the middle Agri valley. An area of about 6 hectares is enclosed by an imposing defensive system, consisting of 3 circuits of walls, of which the best preserved defends the acropolis of the town. The fortification of the acropolis, which surrounds an area of three hectares, is built according to Greek construction techniques. It is a double curtain with an external face made of regular blocks of sandstone, a filling of stones mixed with the ground and an internal wall made of hewn stones only on the face. The blocks bearing quarry signs in Greek letters are concentrated near the main door. The main door, of the courtyard type with an almost square compartment, open to vehicles, opens towards the east. Two small pedestrian gates are located on the northern side of the walls and two other posterns open towards the south.