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WONDERFULLY INDULGENT LEARNING HOLIDAYS
EXPLORING THE FLAVOURS AND TRADITIONS OF ONE OF ITALY'S MOST DISTINCTIVE CULINARY REGIONS.
The only region in Italy that can boast two names - Basilicata, however, is the officially recognised one - is a land in which human and natural history have left important traces ever since it has emerged from the sea. In olden times it was known as Lucania, from the Latin 'lucas' either because it was a woody land, or because it was populated by the 'Liky' an ancient people coming from Anatolia, or maybe because it was the land reached by a warlike people who had followed the sun, known as 'luc'.
It was called Basilicata for the first time in a document dating from 1175, originating probably from the name 'Basiliskos', a Byzantine administrator. Basilicata is a land so rich in culinary traditions that it offers a great deal to anyone interested in wine and food.
Pride of the region, Lucanian cuisine is traditionally an intelligent blending of simple and genuine products, far from the sophisticated, elaborated modern cooking. It is important to consider that only olive oil is used in the preparation of most dishes, while butter is used rather like cheese.
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DURATION
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3 Nights / 4 Days
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HIGHLIGHTS
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Venosa
Murgia Park
Sassi Matera
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PROGRAM
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Day 1 : Olive oil tasting
Arrival in Matera and check in to hotel in the heart of the Sassi. Transfer to Miglionico and visit at a local oil-mill. Lunch at a local Agriturismo, local farm house serving many products made on the premises in an unspoiled natural context. Return to Matera and visit of Rioni Sassi followed by Olive tasting at Azienda Olio dei Sassi.
Day 2 : Wine tasting
After breakfast departure to Rionero in Vulture. Visit to the noteworthy Cantine del Notaio, tasting of their excellent wines and visit to the ancient caves of the XVI century.
Lunch at a picturesque restaurant and food tasting of local food and wine. Transfer to Venosa, birthplace of one of the greatest Latin poets, Quinto Orazio Flacco (65 AC) and later part of Frederic II Swabian's Empire. Guided tour of the roman amphitheatre and return to the hotel.
Day 3 : The history of Sassi di Matera
After breakfast ransfer to the look out point of Murgia Timone within the Murgia Materan Natural Reserve and Cave Churches. Visit to the rock-hewn church Madonna delle Tre Porte and nature walking tour. Return to the historic center and visit to Piazza Vittorio Veneto and the nearby churches. Short break at the Cathedral and Piazza Duomo. Lunch in a typical restaurant.
The itinerary continues at Piazzetta Pascoli with a breathtaking view over the Sasso Caveoso and highland plateau of the Murgia and Palazzo Lanfranchi, home to the Museum of Modern and Medieval Art of Basilicata, with the nearby Church of the Carmine. The tour continues through the heart of the ancient dwellings and nobile homes in the Sassi towards the church of San Pietro Caveoso.
Visit to a typical 'cave-dwelling', partly carved out of the rock and partly built, and furnished as it used to be during the peasant civilization.
Next the cave church of Santa Lucia alle Malve or Santa Maria de Idris where some of the most important frescoes and elaborate architecture of this nature be viewed.
Visit to the Sassi and food tasting of cheese at a local trattoria.
Day 4 : Check-out
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HOTEL ACCOMMODATION
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Your hotel is the Hotel in Pietra perched high up in the sassi a converted 12th-century Benedictine church houses opened in January 2008. The reception-breakfast room occupies the sometime nave, with soaring ceiling and looping tall arches.
A mix of furniture arranged with a pared-down simplicity. Walls are pale exposed stone, a warm gold. Modernist touches marry well with the antiquity, such as large low, wood-edged double beds and thick glass partitions.
All of the characteristic 8 rooms are different, imaginative conversions of the unusual spaces the old buildings provide. Most have extraordinary views, too - over the town and across to the cathedral. The peace is palpable: the sassi lanes are too narrow and stepped for vehicles. A remarkable place to stay in a remarkable city.
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NOTE
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Check availability, prices and conditions and remember: all our packages can be fully personalized. .
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