Italia’s most ‘Western’-style road trip along the Basentana

The Basentana begins just a few kilometres further on, yet its cultural starting point can only be the Temple of the Palatine Tables, originally dedicated to the worship of the goddess Athena. Set against a backdrop of orange groves where the fruit will soon take on shades of red and orange, fifteen fluted columns with Doric capitals stand out, ten of which are arranged on the northern side and five on the southern. Excavations carried out exactly a century ago unearthed remains of ancient terracotta decoration, statuettes, pottery and other column fragments, now on display in the fascinating and important National Archaeological Museum of Metaponto, whilst nearby you can visit the Urban Archaeological Park, strolling amongst the ruins of the ancient city of Metaponto, founded in the 7th century BC in the heart of a fertile alluvial plain at the mouth of the River Basento. It is here that the winding stretch of the SS 407, better known as the Basentana, begins. Stretching 101 kilometres, it reaches Potenza amidst a Wild West-style landscape that has retained its rugged charm, amidst badlands, villages springing up at the foot of castles perched on hilltops, woods of Turkey oak and holm oak, and the jagged sandstone peaks of the Lucanian Dolomites.