Fenix Tours
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The lower valley of the Bradano River is surprisingly very interesting. Near Matera, there is the lake of San Giuliano, very frequented by migratory birds and the Natural Oasis W.W.F. In the vicinity, along the Gravina di Picciano there is an unexpected wonder: a rock church that has been defined as the Sistine Chapel of rock civilization: the Crypt of Original Sin. A little further on Miglionico, with its majestic castle, theater of the conspiracy of the barons against the king of Naples (1485), dominates the valley of the Bradano; while at the mouth of the Bradano lies Metaponte, with the ruins of the ancient Greek city; finally Montescaglioso with its magnificent abbey whose origins date back to the early Middle Ages.
Despite its precarious state, the provincial road linking Miglionico to Metaponto passes by the pretty town of Pomarico from where you can enjoy spectacular views over the Materano's hills. Pomarico was founded around 850 AD after the destruction of the ancient site that was pillaged by the Saracens looking for slaves to be sold in North-African markets. The ancient center, commonly called "Castro Cicurio" or more properly Pomarico Vecchio, has Oenotrian origins and recent escavations date back the foundation at the period of Metapontum from where it is not that far. Few kms farther and we pass by Bernalda, a Jonic town dear to the director Francis Ford Coppola, whose family comes from. Along the route taking us back to Matera from Montescaglioso we can visit rock churches /or rocky settlements of the Murgia Materana Park such as the Madonna della Loë, the Saraceno Village and Cristo la Selva. A tour full of pleasant surprises.
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The Crypt of Original Sin is among the most representative rock churches of the territory of Matera; the pictorial complex that decorates the interior walls is a work of high artistic value.
Montescaglioso falls within the historical and natural archaeological area of the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Materano, a World Heritage Site since 1993 together with the Sassi of Matera. The importance of this town in the province of Matera revolves around the Benedictine Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo (1079), the most considerable of the four monastic complexes that have earned Montescaglioso also the definition of "City of Monasteries".
Metapontum or Metapontium (Ancient Greek: Μεταπόντιον, romanized: Metapontion) was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus (modern Basento). It was distant about 20 km from Heraclea and 40 from Tarentum. The ruins of Metapontum are located close to the village of Metaponto, Basilicata, Italy.
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For the same tour there are two prices based on the number of people. For groups of more than 8 people, please contact us.
After deciding which excursion you want to do, click on the booking button that will open a partially pre-filled e-mail. You must indicate the tour, the date, the number of participants and your special requests. Probably it will take more than one e-mail to define the excursion but as soon as you receive our confirmation email, you can make the payment (in advance or in full).
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The balance can be paid either with Paypal, Wise and XE or at the latest, at the start of the tour by credit card or cash (euro).
The proximity of the localities in Matera gives the opportunity to organize a half-day excursion choosing the one you consider the most interesting and suitable for your needs: Montescaglioso with its micaelic abbey, Miglionico with its castle, The Crypt of Original Sin, Pomarico Nuovo and Castro Cicurio, Metaponto with the Greek ruins. Some secondary sites such as the Wildlife Oasis of San Giuliano or some rock churches of the Park of Murgia Materana in the countryside of Montescaglioso can complete the itineraries.
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 467 € | 140 € | 327 € | 653 € | 196 € | 457 € |
The lower course of the river Bradano runs through a valley that, above all, from the ancient Pleistocene lake now called Dogana, below the hill of Montescaglioso, has a succession of irrigated and very fertile soils. These are the lands that during the Magno-Greek period (VII-III BC) made Metapontus one of the most prosperous cities of Magna Graecia. On the territory of Montescaglioso falls a part of the Regional Park of Murgia Materana and probably as the Ionian coastal area remained in Byzantine hands even after the maximum expansion of the Lombards in the seventh century AD, there are the oldest rock churches of the park. The Abbey of Montescaglioso in fact seems to date back to the first centuries of the Middle Ages. Miglionico whose castle was the scene of the conspiracy of the barons, is an ancient Lucan center whose origins are uncertain but enjoys a dominant position on the artificial lake of San Giuliano. The latter, formed after the construction of the dam on the course of the Bradano, is an important wildlife oasis managed by the WWF. And in the vicinity of the latter, along the course of the Gravina di Picciano, a tributary of Bradano, a rock church known as the "Sistine Chapel of Rupestrian Civilization" called the Crypt of Original Sin for the frescoes that decorate it, is a magnificent testimony of the art of these districts in the Early Middle Ages. Metaponto with its Palatine Tables and its archaeological park and necropolis scattered in the area are finally the last pearl of this interesting territory
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 700 € | 210 € | 490 € | 980 € | 294 € | 686 € |
A visit to the lower Bradano valley which includes all the destinations of the itinerary. We start from the crypt of original sin and make a short stop at the oasis of San Giuliano WWF a few kilometers away. In Miglionico we visit the castle and the mother church with the magnificent polyptych of Cima di Conegliano. In the afternoon we visit Pomarico Nuovo and on the way to Metaponto we make a stop at the ancient settlement of Pomarico Vecchio whose ruins date back to the 4th-3rd century BC. Bernalda, the birthplace of Francis Ford Coppola’s grandfather, owns a beautiful castle and the same director has a hotel in a noble palace. It could be an incentive to spend the night there. The following morning is dedicated to Metaponto with its museum and its archaeological park. In the afternoon the abbey of Montescaglioso and if there is spare time, a visit to a rock hamlet on the way back to Matera
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 1120 € | 336 € | 784 € | 1568 € | 470 € | 1098 € |
