Un cielo azzurro, pieno di sole, e una temperatura di 13 gradi hanno salutato con favore a Matera la cerimonia di chiusura dell’anno di Capitale europea della Cultura. I numeri che sostanziano il successo di questi dodici mesi sono stati annunciati nel corso di una conferenza stampa a Palazzo Lanfranchi, coordinata da Serafino Paternoster e a cui h...

Even though the residents of Craco, Italy are long gone, the majesty of this medieval hill town remains. Located in the instep of Italy's boot, the once-thriving village stands atop a 1,300-foot cliff overlooking the river valley below.  Defensively, the town's builders got everything right; but enemy attacks were not the cause of Craco's demise. I...

Il luogo si presta, e il cinema gli ha pure dato una mano: Matera diventa ancora più magica durante le festività natalizie, e il presepe vivente è un appuntamento immancabile, che porta nella città Unesco - nelle sue ultime settimane da Capitale europea della cultura - decine di migliaia di visitatori.L'appuntamento curato dall'associazione Matera...

Ben 22 Istituti Scolastici Superiori di Basilicata e Molise hanno risposto al Bando su "Sicurezza sul lavoro e migrazione: ieri e Oggi” predisposto con il Patrocinio del Comune di MATERA e della Fondazione MATERA Capitale Europea della Cultura 2019, dalle Direzioni INAIL di BASILICATA e MOLISE, dagli Uffici Scolastici delle due Regioni, dall’Associ...

As a kid, I knew nothing about Basilicata or that it was a Region of Italy. I only recognized the name as being the family dialect. The family often spoke of “Rionero,” their hometown, one small village of Basilicata, north of Potenza. They talked, also, of Monticchio, which I gather was an alpine park area with a natural lake. Not sure how they ev...

In January, thousands of citizens of Italy’s Basilicata region gathered in a unique location to celebrate an historic occasion through music — which reverberated around adjacent tuff rock. Marching bands played Beethoven’s Ode to Joy — infusing life into what was, decades ago, an abandoned quarry on the outskirts of town. That town, Matera — famous...

The Vito Marcantonio Forum (VMF) achieved transnational status—a step towards transcendence—for the Italian-American politician known as the People’s Congressman, prego to an invitation to participate in “European Capital for One Day – Picerno: Capital of Human Rights” (“Capitale Europea per un Giorno – Picerno: Capitale dei Diritti”), a conference...

Calvello, in the heart of Basilicata, is a mountain town immersed in the quiet of the past, where the art of ceramics is still being cultivated. The Benedictine monks of Faenza introduced the art of working with clay as far back as 1200. Since that time, entire generations of families have learned the craft and handed down its precious secrets.  Th...

If you’re in need of proof that stories of renewal and hope still exist, then book a trip to Matera – an ancient southern Italian town that’s gone from decrepit squalor to Europe’s 2019 capital of culture. Matera’s story is tear-inducingly miraculous. As recently as the 50s it was branded “the shame of Italy”, after a writer called Carlo Levi was e...

Perched high above the instep of the Boot in the eastern extreme of the region of Basilica is a city unlike any other in Italy. What makes Matera unique and marks it as a Southern Italian “must see” are its historic, or rather prehistoric, quarters: the sassi. Literally meaning “the rocks,” Matera’s sassi offer the best example of troglodyte (cave-...