Pietrapertosa It is a municipality in the province of Potenza, and the highest in the region.
Together with the neighbouring towns, it forms the Gallipoli Cognato Piccole Dolomiti Lucane Regional Park. Already recognised as one of Italy’s most beautiful villages, CNN also included it in its 2019 list of the twenty most beautiful places on the peninsula.
Physical Geography
The village is built entirely on bare rock, as if it had been set into it, making use of every nook and cranny.
It runs along the main street, reaching the foot of the Roman-era castle. The castle is dominated by a natural arch, which for many years served as a lookout point manned by sentries.
A distinctive feature of this spot (as of the entire park area) are the rainwater drainage channels (carved into the bedrock) on the rocky outcrop, as well as the steps carved into the rock. Despite the wear and tear caused by the passage of time and the flow of tourists, these features have actually stood the test of time, remaining a real gem of the area.
History
The town was once called “Pietraperciata” (meaning “pierced rock”). It earned this name because of a hole in a large cliff, visible from the town.
The date of its foundation is uncertain. The most reliable sources, however, date it to the 8th century BC, founded by the Pelasgians passing through southern Italy. This people built their dwellings in the lower part of the village, whilst erecting fortifications on the rocks to halt any enemy advance.
Later, the Greeks arrived from the Ionian coast, also making their way inland to trade in goods and handicrafts. Their presence is evidenced by the amphitheatre and the names of certain places, which are characteristic of their culture (for example, “The Coast of Diana”).
The Romans supplanted their Mediterranean cousins, making Pietrapertosa their own oppidum and building a fortress there, on the site of which the church of St Francis now stands.
The town was not spared by the barbarian invasions, first by the Goths and then by the Lombards, who incorporated the village into the gastaldo of Acerenza. The Byzantines then arrived, under the rule of the Saracen Bomar. It was the Saracens themselves who created the most distinctive areas of Pietrapertosa.
The Norman-Swabian descent It saw the village develop into one of the most important strategic centres in Basilicata, given the commanding position of the hill below. And, in 1268, it took part in the Ghibelline uprising.
In epOca Angioina became a fiefdom of William Tournespè in 1269, as yet more feudal lords succeeded one another – Pietro de Burbura (1278) and Giovanni Borbone (1280), for example –.
From the Angevins to the Aragonese, there were still numerous families who owned the town: the Gozzuti, the Grappini Diazcarlon, and the Counts of Alife. In the 16th century, it passed to the Carafa, the Aprano, the Campolongo, the De Leonardis, the Suardi, the Iubero and, finally, the Sifola of Trani.
A significant event took place in 1647 with the uprising against the taxes imposed by the local lords. The revolt was harshly suppressed, to the extent that many participants attempted to flee – particularly the poorest among them – to escape the penalties, as they would be declared outlaws if they fled without first paying the taxes due.
The solution was to go into hiding, turning into petty thieves who made a living by looting and stealing. Among them were also some monks who had supported the protest.
The banned perhaps the most famous is Scalandrone, a farmer himself, who worked in the valley of the Basento.
With the advent of French rule under Joachim Murat in 88, Pietrapertosa became a liberal centre governed by a town council, a decurionate, a mayor and a municipal police force responsible for public order, all appointed by the sovereign.
Between 1820 and 1848, the people supported the Bourbon uprisings until, in 1860, some citizens even joined the “Thousand”, only to suffer shortly afterwards from the phenomenon of post-unification banditry.
In the early 1900s, the large population was decimated by malaria and emigration to the Americas.
Monuments and places of interest
Religious architecture
- Church of St James the Greater (Mother Church)
It was built during the Late Middle Ages, around 1400.
The original Romanesque structure remains intact, particularly in the solid appearance of the masonry, which, following the most recent restoration work, has been returned to its exposed stone state, thereby restoring the church’s ancient medieval grandeur.
The pure, unaltered Romanesque style is still characterised by numerous other features:
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- the imposing structure of the bell tower, marked by five courses of projecting string courses, and spanned at the base by a large arch beneath which Via Vittorio Emanuele runs, running alongside the church;
- the interior layout, comprising just two naves (the third was removed as a result of subsequent alterations) separated by a row of five large arches;
- the raised chancel;
- a baptismal font made entirely of stone, recovered in 1940 during excavation work carried out for structural stabilisation, and placed in the small churchyard in front of the main entrance.
Inside, there are still numerous features of artistic merit and historical significance:
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- four frescoes in the spandrels between the four arches supporting the roof of the chancel;
- a 16th-century wooden choir; an underground crypt;
- an 18th-century wooden confessional.
- Convent of St Francis
It was founded in 1474 by the local Observant Friars Minor. Inside, it houses the painting The Apparition of the Child to St Anthony of Padua created in 1631 by Giovanni De Gregorio (also known as Pietrafesa); The Immaculate Conception built in 1628 by Filiberto Guma and featuring numerous frescoes by Giovanni Luce.
- Chapel of San Cataldo
Featuring numerous references to the Romanesque style, this building was renovated and extended in the early 20th century by local master stonemasons.
It stands on a hill, below the Norman-Swabian Castle, almost at the entrance to the village. It is perhaps the oldest church in the village; it is small in size and was probably built in the 12th century in honour of the saint of the same name. Saint Cataldo was held in high esteem due to his work in re-evangelising the region at the end of Saracen rule.
In southern Italy, the saint was also invoked to ward off epidemics.
- Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary
- Chapel of St Rocco
- Chapel of Purgatory
Civil engineering
L’Arabata
The name is evocative enough in itself, as it derives from the Arabs who ruled the area for around fifty years. It is the oldest neighbourhood and is situated in the highest part of the town, inaccessible to traffic, on the steep slopes leading up to the castle. It consists of small farmhouses perched on a rock that constantly re-emerges, creating a maze of narrow, uphill streets and steps, complete with stables and small vegetable gardens.
The Pietrapertosa Sundial
Much more recent than other monuments, it is situated on the façade of a school building in Piazza Plebiscito.
Its significance lies in the presence on the dial of a stylised glimpse of the old panorama of Pietrapertosa, dominated by the distinctive rocky peak known as the “Becco della Civetta” (named after a rock formation that towered over the village and perfectly resembled an owl with its beak open). A symbolic landmark of the village, it was eventually demolished as part of safety measures in the early 1960s.
Military architecture
- Castle tower
- Norman-Swabian Castle
A fortified complex dating from Roman times, which gained importance under the Normans in the 9th century. It is situated on top of the rock to which the upper part of the village clings (the Arabata district). Its location has always made it a natural stronghold, ideal for human settlement.
Pietrapertosa Castle stands at the highest point of the Basento Valley, overlooking a long stretch of the valley (which, up until the 16th–17th centuries, served as an important route linking the coastal regions of the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas). This explains the military reconnaissance role which involved a sentry post at the summit, sheltered by a natural arch, with a hole at the top that is clearly visible even from the bottom of the valley, where this large, hollow rock can be seen rising up.
The fortress was first used by the Saracens led by Bomar, and later became a Norman–Swabian stronghold. Abandoned in the 17th century and left in a state of ruin, the castle has recently been restored following excavations which have brought to light service rooms and important archaeological finds that, unfortunately, had lain buried beneath the rubble for a long time.
Cinema and television
Pietrapertosa has also been chosen as a filming location for a number of films:
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- An almost perfect country (2016) by Massimo Gaudioso
- The King’s Musketeers – The Penultimate Mission (2018) by Giovanni Veronesi.
In 2018, he appeared in the advert for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, produced by Toyota.
Events
Pietrapertosa, together with Castelmezzano, is home to a truly unique tourist and sporting attraction: the angel’s flight which connects the two towns by means of two steel cables along which you can glide at 120 km/h at a height of around 400 metres.
Literature
In this case, we’ll even go so far as to quote Stephen King, who mentions Pietrapertosa in his novel The institute, designating it as the Italian headquarters of a secret organisation with shadowy aims.
Crafts
The farming and pastoral culture has given rise to a variety of traditional activities, characterised by woodworking aimed at producing both furniture and household items, as well as carving for artistic purposes
