DAY 1 BARI /ALBEROBELLO
Arrival at Apt Bari and guided tour of the ancient city of Bari called Bari Vecchia. It is among the most beautiful old towns in the world, preserving the best of medieval architecture. Overlooking the 'Adriatic, an open gateway to the Near East, heralded by the ancient wall, protected by the Swabian Castle. Bari Vecchia offers striking images of a unique urban and social environment. Urbanistic marginalization compared to the sprawl of the new town has ended up making it almost an island that has preserved intact, uses, customs and flavors of the bari of the past. Visit to the Cathedral of San Nicola . Continuation to Alberobello, hotel accommodation, dinner and overnight stay.
Admission: Swabian Castle € 10
DAY 2 ALBEROBELLO/LOCOROTONDO
Breakfast at the hotel and walking tour of Alberobello, a Unesco site since 1996,thanks to its "Trulli" ( there are more than 1,400 of them),typical architecture that uses dry-stone, that is, without the use of mortar, for the construction of buildings with the characteristic cone-shaped roof that survive intact and functional from centuries past. Many of them are still used as dwellings while others as restaurants, store, small tourist accommodation. A tour to discover the history of the trulli, their architecture, the mysteries and symbolism of their pinnacles and lime-painted signs. During the tour visit the two districts of Trulli Aia Piccola and Monti, it will be possible to visit the Trullo Sovrano, a national monument to understand the past life and furnishing in a typical trullo. Lunch tasting Acropolis of Puglia and visit oil mill in the afternoon we continue to Locorotondo ,whose name derives from the circular plan of its historic center and we will visit this characteristic village included in the list of " Borghi piu' belli d'Italia". Famous for its wines and white houses with " pignon" or " cummersa" roofs, that is, another type of dry-stone architecture. Continuation to Matera. dinner and overnight stay.
Admission: € 2.00 Sovereign Trullo
DAY 3 MATERA - CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2019
Breakfast and full day dedicated to a visit to Matera, recognized in 1993 as a "Unesco World Heritage Site" for the uniqueness of the "Sassi," ancient districts whose houses were carved into the limestone rock. Visit to Sasso Caveoso in particular to Rione Malve and Rione Casalnuovo, two of the most historic districts. During the visit it will be possible to visit the Casa Grotta, typically furnished showing how family life was organized in the houses of the Sassi, described by Carlo Levi in his book "Christ Stopped at Eboli," Cripta Rupestre. We will visit some sites used by Mel Gibson during the filming of the movie "The Passion of the Christ " and Casa Noha good of FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano). Tasting lunch at Azienda Dragone, wine producers and in the afternoon visit to the "Crypt of Original Sin" on the breathtaking scenery of the ravine of Matera, called the "Sistine Chapel Rock Habitat," for the valuable frescoes inside, dating from the late 8th to early 9th century AD. Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.
Admissions: € 5.00 p.p. Casa Noha, € 5.00 p.p. No. 03 admissions in the Sassi, € 8.00 p.p. Crypt of Original Sin
DAY 4 GALLIPOLI COGNATE PARK /CASTELMEZZANO
Breakfast and departure for Castelmezzano , which stands at an elevation of 900 meters, listed among the "Most Beautiful Villages in Italy." The group is welcomed with an introduction on the geographical, social, historical characteristics of the village, made before the splendid scenery, where you can admire Piazza Emilio Caizzo, a natural balcony, which opens onto a village arranged as an amphitheater, whose night lighting brings it closer to a natural nativity scene. The tour continues with a visit to the Mother Church, Santa Maria dell'Olmo dating back to 1544.The signs of the Templar Order will gradually be the subject of the guided tour, from the municipal coat of arms to the toponymy of the streets. The tour continues through the very characteristic alleys of the village until it reaches the "Norman Fortress," where one can admire the steps carved into the rock that led to a Norman lookout point, on which a view of the Gulf of Taranto is possible. Above the Lucanian Dolomites, in the heart of Basilicata, suspended between the peaks of the two villages, Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa, you can make the Flight of the Angel. Safely tied by a special harness and hooked to a steel cable, visitors can experience the thrill of flight for a few minutes. Lunch in a typical restaurant and return to Matera for dinner and overnight stay.
DAY 5 ANGLONA/TURSI/CRACO/BARI APT.
Breakfast and departure for the Sanctuary of Anglona, one of the most famous medieval monuments in the region, which according to tradition was founded in the 12th century on the site of the Greek Pandosia. The hill where the Sanctuary is located overlooks the entire valley of the Sinni and Agri rivers from a height that offers the possibility of glimpsing suggestive and enchanting views. We arrive in Tursi, a small town built by the Goths between the 4th and 5th centuries. The first nucleus of houses appeared on the hill where the Tower of Tursico, its founder who gave the town its name, was erected by the Saracens. Visit to the Rabatana or Arabatana, located at the highest point of the village and literally surrounded on each side by the calanchi, inaccessible ravines that constitute the fantastic world of Albino Pierro's "Jaramme ." Lunch at the Palazzo dei Poeti, in the afternoon continuation to Craco-Paese fantasma, one of the rare examples in Italy, has been thrilling travelers and numerous directors for some years now, who have chosen the Lucanian village to shoot their films: King David by Bruce Beresford, Saving Grace by Tom Conti, The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson . Return to Matera for dinner and overnight stay.
