Grottole

Firmly placed and almost sculpted on a panoramic and rugged hilly promontory that vertically divides and dominates unchallenged from above the wide, fertile valleys of the Bradano and Basento rivers, Grottole is an evocative, silent and picturesque medieval village located a few kilometers from Matera. Its very name unequivocally reveals the authentic geological and historical essence of the entire town: the toponym in fact derives from the Latin term “cryptulae”, in direct reference to the countless and fascinating natural and artificial “grotticelle” that dot and perforate the very steep clay slopes of the ancient town.

These fascinating rock cavities, patiently dug into the living limestone rock with the bare strength of the hands over the course of entire centuries, have historically hosted for countless generations industrious artisan workshops, vital agricultural deposits and, above all, very fresh and deep underground cellars optimal for the conservation and aging of the precious local red wine. The intact heart of the historic center of Grottole is a beautiful, tortuous labyrinth of narrow alleys, steep climbs and humble but incredibly proud houses, above which the evocative, epic and romantic ruins of the Norman Castle stand out in contrast and with majesty, whose powerful silhouette, flanked by the imposing mass visible from kilometers away of the unfinished and fascinating Church of Saints Luca and Giuliano (known throughout the south as the famous “Chiesa Diruta”), represents the unmistakable skyline of this area.

Grottole is a proud village that warmly invites you to slow and experiential tourism, where you walk with curiosity and without a watch, listening to the ancient tales of the elderly sitting in the doors, tasting the genuine and simple dishes of the great Lucanian peasant tradition, and admiring arid and endless hilly horizons that give the sight and the soul a very deep, total sensation of peace and isolation.