Fenix Tours
Prices and booking => please, scroll down
The Lucanian Dolomites are a characteristic mountainous relief located at the center of Basilicata whose silhouettes rise imposing and spectacular, creating a unique and extremely beautiful landscape. These beautiful mountains fall back into the territory of the municipalities of Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa which are located at the top on two different sides.
Pietrapertosa and Castelmezzano have preserved the original medieval urban layout with the houses perched on the rocky slopes and offer a fairytale landscape.
The Lucanian Dolomites with its two beautiful villages are part of the Gallipoli-Cognato Park that can boast many extensive forests and in addition to boasting a rich natural heritage, it has a cultural richness that has become part of UNESCO: the Maggio of Accettura. Besides Accettura, also the small village of Oliveto Lucano and Pietrapertosa celebrate the ancestral rite of the marriage of trees on different dates from Accetura's.
On one of the peaks, the Mount Croccia, at more than 1000 meters there are the remains of a 4th century ancient fortified historic town but the presence of a Stonehenge style solar clock set back its foundation farther back. A journey through history, nature and man.
By clicking on the images you open the destination sites
Arriving to Accettura from the Basentana Route, there is a huge forest that one can observe not only from outside but also from inside and throughout, thanks to the road that moves into the trees, in interiors made of deep light and twilight.
Every time you reach the sunlight coming out from the green, the natural experience is different. Different spaces and places, different scents, images and sounds and silences. Different, when you walk, the combinations between water and wind through the leaves. Different if you are in Montepiano Wood or in Gallipoli Cognato Forest: when you moves in this trees metropolis, time and space dilate.
Two forest, two part of the town, two symbolic trees to marry, two road, one meeting place. Moving from the woods, it is possible to revive this rite based on ancient tree cult. The male, the highest and perfect oak (the Maggio) comes from Montepiano Wood, the bride, the female, called “Cima” is a monumental holly from the Forest of Gallipoli Cognato.
The theme of the fortress, the cliff and the castle that merges into it, often stands out as the dominant theme of many villages and towns, but here there is more. There is an imposing theme that extends to the whole settlement and that is articulated at the various scales from large to domestic, in which it is not uncommon to discover direct connections with the cliff of the single houses or of the open spaces in the rocky interlacing. At the bottom of these, in the corners, a twisted fig may appear as soon as possible, where the donkey who lives together, is the most suitable way to move through the narrow and impervious corridors between the houses. There is also a real phenomenon of monumental inversion that is not recognizable in a particular building emerging between the houses as it could be a castle or a cathedral. Here, on the fabric, there is a series of boulders from the Lucanian Dolomites that popular imagination has connoted with names of recognition. Hiding among these monumental natural architectures, in the impregnable center of the region, the Arabs have been able to castle, longer than elsewhere, to look at without being seen.
Castelmezzano was recently elected as one of the most beautiful towns in Italy and rises 750 meters above sea level in the Regional Park of Gallipoli Cognato and the Lucanian Dolomites as well as Pietrapertosa, the other small village of the Dolomites of Basilicata located at 1088 meters above sea level. sea. The complex of rocks and sandstone spiers carved by water and wind that have given rise to a fairytale landscape. Like Pietrapertosa, Castelmezzano also has a long history that dates back to the early Middle Ages but due to its different origins there has always been a strong rivalry between them.
To watch it in the distance, Castelmezzano, so small and graceful, brings to life the feeling of entering a fairy tale, whose protagonists are the golden eagle and the Owl, the Great Mother, the Anvil and the Mouth of the Lion. Only the names are borrowed from the imagination, because the sculptures of the huge boulders of sandstone rock, which over time have been shaped by the games of wind and rain, to take on similar shapes, really exist! Guarding this medieval jewel, made of steep stairs, narrow alleys, houses climbing on the rock, are the Lucanian Dolomites that, higher up, following dedicated paths, reveal an more enchanting landscape.
Please do not forget to read the Terms & Conditions before booking. The reservation is valid after the payment of the advance or the full amount.
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).
To make payment after clicking down payment or full payment button, a new window will open with several button
The upper buttons let you choose whether to pay with your Paypal account (if you have one), by credit card or any other online payment method existing in your country that is affiliated with Paypal. This alternative changes depending on the country.
If your currency is not the euro (€), it is advisable to pay via the Wise or XE platforms. Paypal applies commercial exchange rates (those of the bureaus of exchange for example) very unfavorable, while Wise and XE apply the official rates with very low fees. Simply open a Wise or XE account and make the payment via the mobile app or PC by making the transfer to the bank account of Fenix Tours. The bank details will be communicated to you in the confirmation e-mail
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 most popular day trip is undoubtedly the visit of the Lucan Dolomites. Pietrapertosa and Castelmezzano in addition to the scenic beauty can give a very special feeling that is to cross suspended at a steel cable the gorge that separates the two villages at 400 m. from the ground. Round trip! Alternatively there is a very suggestive path on foot...
Itinerary completely different from the previous one is the proposed alternative. It starts with Oliveto Lucano, tiny village at the foot of Monte Croccia. On the top of Mount Croccia we visit the ancient Lucanian center probably called Kalipolis (hence the name of the forest of Gallipoli-Cognato) and the solar clock of very ancient times, probably before the crisis of the ancient bronze (1200 BC). We go down to the park’s visitor center and in the afternoon you walk along the paths of the park. On the way back we pass by Accettura and the Montepiano Wood.
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 700 € | 210 € | 490 € | 980 € | 294 € | 686 € |
The two-day tour of this beautiful and green itinerary starts from the small village of Oliveto Lucano. After a walk in this small mountain village we reach the top of Mount Croccia. Visit of the ancient center of Lucania with its solar clock and we get to the visitor center of the Forest of Gallipoli-Cognato in Contrada Palazzo. Trekking in the forest. Before evening we finish the first day in Accettura where we will spend the night.
After visiting Accettura and the Montepiano Wood we will head to Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa with the opportunity to experience the Flight of the Angel (not included in the price). A steel cable suspended between the peaks of two towns allows you to fly over a beautiful landscape making a round trip as there are two different lines whose slopes are respectively 118 and 130 meters. Alternatively there is a path that crosses the woods and streams that divide the two villages.
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 1120 € | 336 € | 784 € | 1568 € | 470 € | 1098 € |
