Castelmezzano

Officially and deservedly recognized as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”, Castelmezzano is one of the most extraordinary and scenic panoramic and urban places on the entire Italian peninsula. Set overhanging at about 800 meters above sea level, its compact, dizzying and evocative historic center is literally stuck and fused with the bare and imposing sandstone rock of the Small Lucanian Dolomites, whose majestic limestone spiers overlook and protect the town, imperiously dominating the entire valley of the Basento river.

The history of this fairy-tale place is very ancient, militarily marked by the passage of outposts of Greeks, Romans, Lombards and Knights Templar. A fascinating maze of narrow alleys, dizzying stairways and houses forced into the rocky ridges leads up to the steep ruins of the ancient Norman-Swabian Castle, once an impregnable lookout stronghold, from which today you can enjoy a 360-degree panorama that literally takes your breath away and your speech.

But Castelmezzano is not only a destination of aesthetic and contemplative beauty, it is also the Lucanian capital of adrenaline and extreme adventure: the village is internationally renowned and frequented for the famous Flight of the Angel. It is an incredible and very long steel cable which, by hooking the visitor to a special harness, allows you to glide and “fly” for over a kilometer suspended in the air at over one hundred km/h, literally connecting the top of the town to the nearby “twin” village of Pietrapertosa. A perfect, unique and intoxicating combination of ancient history, unreal landscapes and cutting-edge outdoor tourism.