Medieval Basilicata away from the crowds: just under an hour’s drive west of Matera stands a town whose history can still be read in its street plan – two quarters of Arab origin, two Norman ones, a 27-metre watchtower above the Basento valley, and hardly a coach in sight.
Tricarico sits at 698 metres on a ridge above the Basento valley, a good 50 kilometres from Matera – in the middle of Basilicata, the most thinly populated region of southern Italy. Around 4,600 people live here. Anyone arriving from the Sassi recognises a great deal – narrow lanes, stone, stairways, a view into the valley – and yet finds something different: an old town that was never tidied up for visitors.
What makes Tricarico special
Tricarico is regarded as the only town in Basilicata with two quarters of Arab origin: Ràbata and Saracena. Their lanes wind, repeatedly end blind and lie in shade for most of the day – a way of building that gave shelter from attackers and from the sun. Beside them lie the Norman quarters of Monte and Piano with their regular plan, and the Civita, the town’s archaeological area. These five quarters side by side exist nowhere else in the region.
To this is added the weight of the church: Tricarico has been a bishop’s seat since the 10th century. How much this shaped the town is shown by a figure from a visitation of 1585 – 52 churches were counted in the place at that time. And finally Tricarico is the home town of Rocco Scotellaro, the poet who became mayor of his own town at 23.
What to see in Tricarico
Torre Normanna
The round Norman tower is the town’s emblem: 27 metres high, with walls several metres thick, the remnant of a larger fortification. From the top the view runs across the Basento valley to the Dolomiti Lucane and, in clear weather, as far as the Ionian Sea. One peculiarity: stand on the stone in the middle of the platform and speak, and your own voice comes back as though you were in a cave.
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
The cathedral goes back to around the year 1000 and was built under Robert Guiscard, originally Romanesque. Its greatest historical moment came in 1383: Louis I of Anjou was crowned King of Naples here. The baroque stuccoes date from the 17th century; the chapels hold works by Pietro Antonio Ferro, one of the most important Lucanian painters of the 17th century.
Church and convent of Santa Chiara
The convent of the Poor Clares occupies the site of the Norman castle – it was handed over to the order, and the counts moved into the Palazzo Ducale. The Cappella del Crocifisso holds one of Pietro Antonio Ferro’s two great fresco cycles.
Convent of Sant’Antonio da Padova
In the convent cloister lies the town’s most valuable find in art-historical terms: a fresco cycle of 1648 by Cesare Scerra with scenes from the life and miracles of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony, together with portraits of the order’s superiors.
Chiesa del Carmine and San Francesco
The Carmelite church holds the second Ferro cycle. The church and convent of San Francesco are among the oldest religious foundations in the town. Neither church keeps continuous hours – it is worth reading the notices on the doors, as they often open at Mass times.
Palazzo Ducale
The palace of the counts of Tricarico dates in its core from the early 14th century. After Ippolito Revertèra, Duke of Salandra, acquired the fief in 1631, it was rebuilt and extended into the 18th century. Since March 2001 the building has served as an exhibition centre for an archaeological collection from the middle Basento valley, which documents how important this area already was as a junction in pre-Roman times.
The town gates
Several gates of the town wall survive: Porta Fontana, Porta del Monte, Porta della Ràbata, Porta della Saracena and Porta delle Beccherie. They are the natural entrances to the old quarters – walk through the Porta della Ràbata and within a few steps the townscape changes completely. The Torre della Saracena and the Torre della Ràbata also survive.
Santa Maria dell’Olivo and the Madonna di Fonti
The church of Santa Maria dell’Olivo, usually called Sant’Antonio Abate, carries its double dedication on the façade: two stone figures, the Madonna and Child with an olive branch in her hand, and the hermit saint Anthony. In January it is the starting point of the carnival. Outside the town lies the sanctuary of the Madonna di Fonti, an old place of pilgrimage.
In the footsteps of Rocco Scotellaro
Rocco Scotellaro (1923–1953) is regarded as the poet of peasant Basilicata. In 1946, at the age of 23, he became mayor of Tricarico; his term brought a literacy programme and the town’s first hospital, among other things. In the old town you can see his house and plaques bearing his best-known lines; his tomb was designed by the Milan architectural practice BBPR. Anyone who has read Carlo Levi’s „Christ Stopped at Eboli“ finds here the other voice of the same landscape.
The old town of Tricarico
The old town is the real reason for the trip. In Ràbata and Saracena the houses stand so close that the lanes narrow in places into tunnels; the dead ends are not planning errors but intention. Between the quarters lie the Orti Saraceni, terraced gardens still irrigated on the old pattern. In Monte and Piano the layout turns abruptly straighter – walking through, you feel where a different rule built.
In practice that means sturdy shoes: the lanes are steep and cobbled. Allow two to three hours for a circuit, without hurrying. And you may as well get lost – the town is small enough that you keep coming out at a corner you know.
The history of Tricarico
Finds show the area was settled from the 6th to 5th century BC. In 849 a fortified Lombard settlement is recorded for the first time. In the 9th and 10th centuries Tricarico was an Arab fortress and a Byzantine kastron – the Ràbata and Saracena quarters date from that period. From the 10th century the town has been a bishop’s seat.
Under the Normans, Tricarico became a county of the Sanseverino and the seat of a connestabile, a military commander. In 1383 Louis I of Anjou was crowned King of Naples in the cathedral. In the 15th century a significant Jewish community lived here; in the 16th century an Albanian community settled under Erina Castriota Scanderbeg. In 1605 Tricarico appeared in the „Theatrum urbium praecipuarum mundi“, one of the best-known town atlases of its day. The town has held the official title of „città“ since 25 May 2010.
The carnival of Tricarico
The carnival of Tricarico is not a parade of floats and confetti but a shepherds’ rite. It begins on 17 January, the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot, and is repeated with greater participation on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday.
The masks represent a herd: the „mucche“, the cows, in coloured ribbons, and the „tori“, the bulls, all in black with red ribbons. Both wear broad-brimmed hats with cloths from which the ribbons fall to the ankles, and every mask carries its own sound of bells at the belt. At sunrise the herd circles the church of Santa Maria dell’Olivo three times, then moves through all the old quarters and finally breaks up into small groups that go from house to house. The count and countess follow in a carriage. Carlo Levi described the spectacle – if you are in Matera in January, here is a good reason for the drive.
Food and local specialities
The cooking is Lucanian and rural: bread and pasta of durum wheat, pecorino and caciocavallo, home-made sausage, and peperoni cruschi – air-dried peppers briefly fried in oil, served with almost every dish. The country around Tricarico lives on grain, and you can taste it.
One warning that holds for the whole of Basilicata: the few places to eat in the town cook at lunchtime and in the evening, and close in between. If you want to stay for lunch, do not turn up after two, and it is best to phone ahead.
Tricarico as a day trip from Matera
Half a day is enough for the old town. Climb the tower, work through the churches and eat lunch without hurrying, and you will happily fill a whole day. Spring and autumn are the finest seasons; in high summer the midday heat on the ridge is unpleasant, and between one and four in the afternoon the town stands still anyway.
Tricarico combines well with Grassano (18 km, about half an hour) or with the Dolomiti Lucane – Castelmezzano is 31 kilometres away, Pietrapertosa 30, both about 40 minutes by car. If you would rather see a second quiet town, our overview of day trips around Matera has further suggestions; the closest in spirit is Craco, the abandoned village.
Getting from Matera to Tricarico
By car it is about 53 kilometres and roughly an hour: first on the SS 655 „Bradanica“, then along the old Via Appia (today the SP 7 and SP 8) through the Basento valley. The road winds but is well maintained and a fine drive.
| Means | Time | Distance | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hire car or own car | approx. 1 hr | approx. 53 km | The most practical option; park at the edge of the old town |
| Service bus (SITA Sud, lines 348, 349, 351) | approx. 2 hrs 20 min | – | Only a few departures a day, and not on every weekday |
| Taxi or transfer | approx. 1 hr | approx. 53 km | Agree the fare in advance and allow for waiting time |
For a day trip the car is the only genuinely comfortable option – the buses are built around commuters and take more than twice as long.
It is best to park outside the old town, for instance at Piazza Garibaldi; you do not drive into the narrow lanes of the old quarters.
A day in Tricarico – our suggested route
A circuit that links all the main sights in one day and shows the town in its historical layers – from the tower through the Norman quarters into the Arab ones and back:
- 9.30 – arrival and orientation. Park at Piazza Garibaldi, have a coffee in a bar on the square, then walk towards the old town.
- 10.00 – Torre Normanna. The tower on Via Fuori Porta Monte is the best way in: from the top you see how the town sits on its ridge and where the valley leads.
- 10.45 – Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. Inside the baroque stuccoes and the works by Ferro, outside the view over the roofs.
- 11.30 – Santa Chiara and the Palazzo Ducale. The Clarist convent on the site of the old castle, then the archaeological collection in the counts’ palace.
- 12.30 – Ràbata and Saracena. Through the Porta della Ràbata into the Arab quarters and on to the Orti Saraceni. This is where wandering pays off most.
- 13.30 – lunch. In a trattoria in the town, Lucanian and unhurried.
- 15.30 – Convent of Sant’Antonio da Padova. The fresco cycle of 1648 in the cloister, then the Chiesa del Carmine.
- 16.30 – winding down. Either out to the sanctuary of the Madonna di Fonti or back through the lanes, past Rocco Scotellaro’s house.
- 17.30 – the drive back to Matera, with a detour to Grassano if there is still light.
In small towns in Basilicata, churches and museums keep no reliable hours. To be sure of getting in, ask at the town hall or the Pro Loco the day before – or plan the visit for a Sunday morning, when the churches are open for Mass.
Why Tricarico is worth the trip
Matera is famous, and on some days you notice it. Tricarico is among Basilicata’s lesser-known places and is the opposite: a town with a thousand years of history where nobody charges admission and where on a Sunday at midday you walk the lanes alone. If you want to understand what Basilicata looked like before tourism, you will get more answers here in a few hours than in any museum – and a view from the tower that on a clear day reaches the sea.
