The closest worthwhile day out from Matera lies just twenty kilometres away – and most people drive straight past it. Montescaglioso is known as the „town of monasteries“: several convents stand within the old centre, the largest a Benedictine abbey with two cloisters high above the Bradano valley. Add rock churches in the Murgia park and a carnival far older than anything built for visitors.
Montescaglioso sits at 313 metres on a hill between the Murgia plateau and the Bradano valley, with a little over 9,000 inhabitants. From the edges of town the view runs far across the Ionian plain. For half a day it is the easiest trip of all – half an hour by car.
What makes Montescaglioso special
Its position on the rim of the Murgia brought settlers early: at Cozzo Presepe archaeologists found a settlement of the 8th and 7th centuries BC and later a Greek fortification tied to the territory of Metapontum. In the Middle Ages the Benedictines made Montescaglioso a religious centre – by 1099 the abbey owned some 12,000 hectares of land and fourteen churches.
What to see in Montescaglioso
Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo
The abbey is what you come for. It already stood in imposing form in 1078, and the Norman counts, among them Umfredo d’Altavilla, endowed it generously. What you visit today is largely the 15th to 17th-century complex: two cloisters, a chapter house, cellars and storerooms, with 17th-century frescoes. Around 1650 the library held several thousand manuscripts and incunabula; in 1806 the monastery lost its estates and the books were scattered. Today the abbey is a museum and cultural centre and houses a collection of rural life.
The other monasteries
Further convents are spread through the town, among them Sant’Agostino of the 14th century. They are the reason for the nickname „town of monasteries“ – you walk from one to the next in a few minutes.
The churches
The parish church of Santi Pietro e Paolo was rebuilt from 1776 onwards, San Rocco dates from the 16th century. The municipal territory also contains rock churches belonging to the Parco della Murgia Materana – the same park as at Matera, seen from its southern end.
The park and the view
Footpaths lead from the town down into the ravines of the park. If you want to see the Murgia from the other side, the access here is the easier one.
Festivals
On the evening of 5 January the „Cucibocca“ walk the alleys: hooded figures with a lantern, needle and thread, threatening to sew children’s mouths shut – an Epiphany custom found nowhere else. The carnival, with processions on the two Sundays before Ash Wednesday and on Shrove Tuesday, is among the oldest in Basilicata. The patron saint is San Rocco, celebrated from 18 to 20 August with a procession and a triumphal cart.
Getting there from Matera
About 20 kilometres south by car, 25 to 35 minutes. Montescaglioso is also one of the few neighbouring towns with a usable bus service: the regional lines run several times a day, taking 35 to 45 minutes. Park at the edge of the old town; a short but steep lane leads up to the abbey.
Best time to visit
Any time of year works – the abbey stays pleasantly cool even in the heat. Particularly rewarding: early January for the Cucibocca, February for the carnival, spring and autumn for the footpaths.
Half a day in Montescaglioso
The abbey in the morning, then a walk between the monasteries and out to the viewpoint, back to Matera at midday – or onwards south to the sea at Metaponto.
