The Endless Poetry of Valsinni and Tricarico

As you continue on your way, before the foothills of the Apennines appear on the horizon, the Basentana route becomes increasingly poetic. This is particularly true if you choose to visit Valsinni first, with its castle built upon a pre-existing Lombard fortress dating back to the 11th century: within its walls and chambers, Isabella Morra was imprisoned, more on suspicion of an affair than because of any actual romantic relationship with her tutor, Diego Sandoval de Castro. Her legend, however, revived by Benedetto Croce, now lives on in this picturesque village. The verses she composed echo during visits to the castle and fade away along the banks of the River Sinni. At the Fontana del Borgo inn, right next to the castle, you can savour that absolute, crisp Lucanian delicacy known as ‘peperoni cruschi’. A few kilometres further on, on the right, a sign points to another poetic destination. It was in Tricarico, in fact, that the personal and public life of Rocco Scotellaro, poet and mayor, unfolded. Although more than seven decades have passed since his untimely death, his hometown has remained deeply loyal to him, so much so that the verses of his most important poems can be read on the murals and illuminated signs near his home and linger in the mind as you stroll up and down the Arab-style neighbourhoods of Ràbata and Saracena, through the Norman quarters of Monte and Piano, and on to Civita. Without hesitation, one must pass through Porta Monte, and then push open the doors of the Church of Santa Chiara, which, having begun as a chapel of the Norman castle, became an integral and precious part of the Poor Clares’ monastery, founded in 1333 by Sveva de Bethsan, Countess of Tricarico and wife of Tommaso Sanseverino, Count of Marsico, and by King Robert of Anjou. Its Chapel of the Crucifix is one of the most remarkable artistic treasures of the 17th-century South, thanks to the cycle of frescoes by Pietro Antonio Ferro. The Gothic-style Church of San Francesco, whose façade features several stone lion cubs, is also of note; its cloister now houses the ‘Rocco Scotellaro and Post-War Basilicata’ Documentation Centre and the Archive on the History of Southern Italy, containing photographs taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Arturo Zavattini, Mario Carbone, Mario Cresci and Antonio Pagnotta, are highly acclaimed. You can then walk around the Norman fortress built between the 9th and 10th centuries, make out the finely carved figures in the 18 panels of the portico of the former Episcopal Seminary, dating from the Renaissance period, and, having refreshed yourself with bread, the ‘lagane’ with breadcrumbs, raisins and cinnamon, and the ‘cialledde’ made from stale bread with tomato, oil and oregano from Forno Martelli, you’ll have the energy you need to reach the Saracen Tower and admire the landscape stretching all the way to the Lucanian Dolomites.