Fenix Tours
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Clay hills covered with infinite fields of cereals, sparse trees, and many small abandoned houses that dot the landscape. The woods are very few along the upper part of the Bradano river and one can easily have the impression of lack of inhabited centers, that man has fled and returns there a few days a year only to sow the fields, to execute in an hurry the necessary field works and finally close the cycle with the harvest of the crops.
In the logic of this landscape reading, some archaeologists have justified the abandonment of inhabited centers that disappeared just because of the deforestation that this area has known. Unfortunately, many scientific disciplines only partially explain what happened. Of the vanished centers only a few ruins remain on the top of the hills that dominate the Bradano river and each of them has a unique story to tell
With the notable exception of Irsina, rolling hills covered by cereal crops dominate the view. The landscape is beautiful and dramatic and visiting each proposed place is like traveling back in time and revisiting historical events that are often only studied in school books. While Rifeccia tells us the geological history of Earth with its mud volcanoes, Timmari and Monte Irsi tell us about ancient peoples that for reasons related to earthquakes and plague, disappeared. Garagnone was also abandoned for an earthquake while Monte Serico much more likely for the plague as well as the town of Altojanni in the seventeenth century. Borgo Taccone, on the other hand, is an example of the failed project of the Agrarian Reform of the 1950s that wanted to bring back people to the countryside and in the end the cave settlement of Grottelline, near the small village of Poggiorsini, threatened by a waste dump project.
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The castle is located about 542 m. s.l.m. on the western edge of a hill, in the municipality of Genzano di Lucania, it dominates a vast hilly landscape, bordered to the east by the Alta Murgia. Built, probably on the remains of an ancient Roman villa (excavations carried out on the western side of the hill have brought to light the remains of a settlement and a pre-Roman necropolis), it represents, for the construction phases that characterize it, an interesting example of medieval architecture in Basilicata.
The presence of mud volcanoes was well known to Matera elderly who often apostrophized Rifeccia as a "whore". From some documents, however, it seems that this adjective was used for the presence in distant times of a noblewoman of the town of Laurenzana residing in Rifeccia and it seems that she had easy costumes. So from the dialectal pronunciation of her town, the name of the district was coined.
The historic center of Irsina today looks like a small medieval village that can be easily visited on foot. The oldest part is represented by a maze of characteristic alleys of what was once the Greek neighborhood in which over time, through a series of small demolitions, new openings and squares were created and several small churches adjacent to the houses were built. Sant’Andrea, Santa Lucia, Purgatorio, San Nicola de Morgitiis, San Nicola dei Poveri, San Rocco, the Annunziata, the Addolorata, are small churches that the population wanted to build next to their homes. In the centuries between the 16th and 18th centuries, large ecclesiastical structures and large noble palaces arose along the road axis of Porta Maggiore which still represents the expansion axis of the contemporary city.
The hill of Timmari is one of the sites with the most continuous human settlements in this part of Italy. As it has been ascertained by excavations and recent research, human presence on the hill already began in the Neolithic Age, developed in the Bronze Age and took on the appearance of a urban agglomerate in the first phase of the Iron Age. A vast necropolis presents the funeral rite of cremation with proto-Villanovan urns.
The hill Altojanni is located in a beautiful strategic position from which you can visually dominate a large part of the surrounding area. The small village of Altojanni (or Altogianni), was abandoned in the second half & agrave; the seventeenth century following a plague and an earthquake, then forgotten and never found. The ruins of the tower of Norman origin still standing give the impression of a military structure for sighting and defensive purposes, connected but probably not very close to the town. On the other side perfectly restored is the Sanctuary of Sant'Antonio Abate.
Mount Irsi is eleven kilometers from Irsina, an area of extraordinary importance for the presence of the archaeological site and of great scenic beauty. Like the nearby hills of Timmari and Altojanni, it has an altitude of just under 500 meters and has a plateau on its top, a feature that has favored human settlement. Its slopes fall on the right bank of the Bradano river on the south side, while along the north side flows the Basentello which after a few km joins the Bradano, just upstream of the San Giuliano reservoir. On the side from which Irsina can be glimpsed, there is a deep valley crossed by several streams that descend from the Irsina hill including the Fosso Acqua di Lupo stream that gives to the district its name.
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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 main feature of the Bradano Valley is wheat cultivation. Clayey soils are conducive to this extensive use of land and with the disappearance of pastoralism, the activities that make the towns thrive have ceased. The only significant town of this area is in fact Irsina. On the top of the hills, however, there are often the remains of fortifications or villages or even geological events such as mud volcanoes to demonstrate the environmental instability that characterizes the area. In half a day there is the possibility to visit some of these sites, depends solely on your curiosity: the remains of the pre-Roman city of Timmari with its environmental setting? The volcanoes that dot the Rifeccia? The solitary tower of Altojanni? The medieval and Roman remains of Mount Irsi? The fascinating Irsina? The solitary Castle of Monteserico? The villages of the Agrarian Reform? The Neolithic site of Grottelline? The ruins of the ancient Castle of Garagnone? As you can see the options are not lacking !
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 467 € | 140 € | 327 € | 653 € | 196 € | 457 € |
The main feature of the Bradano Valley is wheat cultivation. Clayey soils are conducive to this extensive use of land and with the disappearance of pastoralism, the activities that make the towns thrive have ceased. The only significant town of this area is in fact Irsina. On the top of the hills, however, there are often the remains of fortifications or villages or even geological events such as mud volcanoes to demonstrate the environmental instability that characterizes the area. In a day there is the possibility to visit some of these sites, depends solely on your curiosity: the remains of the pre-Roman city of Timmari with its environmental setting? The volcanoes that dot the Rifeccia? The solitary tower of Altojanni? The medieval and Roman remains of Mount Irsi? The fascinating Irsina? The solitary Castle of Monteserico? The villages of the Agrarian Reform? The Neolithic site of Grottelline? The ruins of the ancient Castle of Garagnone? As you can see the options are not lacking !
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 700 € | 210 € | 490 € | 980 € | 294 € | 686 € |
The main feature of the Bradano Valley is wheat cultivation. Clayey soils are conducive to this extensive use of land and with the disappearance of pastoralism, the activities that make the towns thrive have ceased. The only significant town of this area is in fact Irsina. On the top of the hills, however, there are often the remains of fortifications or villages or even geological events such as mud volcanoes to demonstrate the environmental instability that characterizes the area. Timmari being the closest place to Matera is our first stop on this two-day trip followed by the Rifeccia with mud volcanoes. The time travel continues in Altojanni with its tower of Norman origin to finally stop and discover the beautiful Irsina. The following day we expect the Monte Irsi, Borgo Taccone, the Castle of Monte Serico, Poggiorsini for lunch, the Grottelline and finally the majestic ruins of the Castle of Garagnone.
| 1-3 people | 4-7 people | ||||
| Full Price | Down Payment | Balance | Full Price | Down Payment | Balance |
| 1120 € | 336 € | 784 € | 1568 € | 470 € | 1098 € |
