Top Matera Shore Excursions

Pietrapertosa is a small mountain village in Basilicata at 1088 meters above sea level. It is located inside the Park of Gallipoli Cognato and the Little Lucanian Dolomites and is surrounded by fantastically shaped sandstones. Pietrapertosa Saracen fortress acquired importance with the Normans. The guided tour will take you to know the area of Arabata, the oldest and most striking of Pietrapertosa. In the walking path in the historic center. The tour continues by visiting the solar clock, the sundial of Pietrapertosa and the many staircases: alleys carved into the rock. The guided tour ends with a visit to the magnificent Norman-Swabian castle, formerly Saracen fortress, dominating from the top of the rocks. As an alternative to the classic historical-archaeological itinerary, one can choose to undertake the "Path of the seven stones", a naturalistic-trekking path that connects the municipalities of Pietrapertosa and Castelmezzano to be covered in about ninety minutes

Explore the 3 districts of Matera: Civita’ and the most fascinating part of the old town, named “Sassi”: Sassi Barisano and Caveoso.The stones of Matera is a real cultural landscape, capable of perpetuating from the most distant prehistoric past to the modern times.During the walking tour which lasts approx. 2 hours, our professional guides will show you the Sassi and take you to visite inside a cave house to see the tools, the furniture, the lifestyle of the people that lived in THE SASSI OF MATERA an experience that will take you back in time.

Miglionico is located on a hill near Matera between the Bradano and Basento rivers and is famous for the majestic Malconsiglio castle, known for the historic conspiracy of the Barons (1485) against King Ferdinando I of Naples. Flanked by square and circular circular towers, placed at the top of the building. On the upper floor, there are the Malconsiglio hall, where the conspiracy was held, and the Star or Spirits room with a star-shaped ceiling and caskets where the most precious treasures and documents were kept. After the visit of the castle the tour continues towards the mother church of Santa Maria Maggiore which preserves precious works such as the splendid Polyptych (1499) oil on panel of the Venetian master Cima da Conegliano, composed of eighteen panels arranged in four orders, with a central beautiful Virgin on the Throne with Child and St. John the Baptist, the Crucifix by Father Umile Da Petralia Soprana (1629) and the great baroque organ.

The courses will be held in a newly restored fourteenth-century Franciscan monastery in the small town of Irsina between Puglia and Basilicata, a still very little tourist place but with considerable historical and artistic heritage: in Irsina the only known sculpture of the great Renaissance artist Andrea is preserved Mantegna. The course participants are hosted in typical houses of the historic center, interacting with the country and its people, discovering its history, art, culture, environment and food and wine. Breakfast and lunch are included in the price and are held in the bright restaurant of the convent or outside on the terrace of the convent's hanging garden. Excursions are also organized in the vineyards for the grape harvest, in the vegetable gardens, in the olive groves for olive harvesting and in Matera, the city of the Sassi and UNESCO heritage as well as being the European capital of culture in 2019.

Explore the 3 districts of Matera: Civita’ and the most fascinating part of the old town, named “Sassi”: Sassi Barisano and Caveoso. The guide will pick you up and bring you to Matera where you will start the guided walking tour. Stop 1 - MATERA - 2 hours. The stones of Matera is a real cultural landscape, capable of perpetuating from the most distant prehistoric past to the modern times.During the walking tour which lasts approx. 2 hours, our professional guides will show you the Sassi and take you to visite inside of a cave house to see the tools, the furniture, the lifestyle of the people that lived in THE SASSI OF MATERA , will take you back in time. transfer - 1 hour Stop 2 Alberobello 90 minutes The first trulli showed up in the prehistoric age being part of an ancient settlement in the Itria Valley.Still, the oldest trulli we know today are in Alberobello, dating back to the 14th Century. A visite inside of a trullo will show you the magic of this place.

Venosa was an important Roman city, its importance grew mainly thanks to the Via Appia and that allowed important trade. Nowadays Venosa is remembered also because here was born Horace Flacco, author of the famous "Carpe Diem". The guided tour will start from the Archaeological Park where you can visit the thermal baths, the domus, the SS. Trinity and the amphitheater. After the amphitheater the visit continues with S.S. Trinity composed of Ancient Church of the V / VII century restored by the Lombards and Normans. The tour of Venosa continues in the historic center with a visit to the 16th-century Aragonese castle Pirro del Balzo. Inside there is the national archaeological museum that contains mainly Roman finds. Not far away you will visit the so-called house of Horace, dating back to the II century BC, in reality recent excavations have proven to be parts of the thermal baths of a patrician house The tour ends with a tasting of the typical local wine Aglianico del Vulture DOC

Venosa was an important Roman city, its importance grew mainly thanks to the Via Appia and that allowed important trade. Nowadays Venosa is remembered also because here was born Horace Flacco, author of the famous "Carpe Diem". The guided tour will start from the Archaeological Park where you can visit the thermal baths, the domus, the SS. Trinity and the amphitheater. After the amphitheater the visit continues with S.S. Trinity composed of Ancient Church. Behind the apse you will visit the "unfinished" church, designed to contain a larger number of faithful, started in the mid-1100s and never finished. The tour of Venosa continues in the historic center with a visit to the 16th-century Aragonese castle Pirro del Balzo. Inside there is the national archaeological museum that contains mainly Roman finds. The guided tour ends with the external visit of the so-called house of Horace, dating back to the II century BC

A tiring and epic cycling; an uncontaminated region; a way of traveling that reduces everything to the essential and at the same time leads you to appreciate the little things and the encounters with the locals; Matera, Pietrapertosa, Craco, the San Giuliano reserve, the Gallipoli Cognato park, the badlands; the heart and eyes will be full of beauty at the end of a tiring and hard experience, but therefore regenerating

It is not the classic touristic tour that I present, but a real immersion in the culture of my land through the discovery of the cities.