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Published: October 28th 2006
Driving into Basilicata
It has a southern Idaho look.Just returned from our first major road trip. We headed south into the region of Calabria. This is the region that makes up the toe of the Italian boot. We loved Calabria! We drove first into the mountain top village of Civita. The village is located at the edge of the Parco Nazionale del Pollino (National Park). This is actually in the region of Basilicata. We stayed overnight at a B&B, Il Belvedre.
That was an excellent place to stay and it's location is prime. The village of Civita is perched right on top of a peak and the B&B is right at the tip. It is a scenic overlook as you can see from the photos. The view out of our window was stupendous. The gorge that you see is regarded as the Grand Canyon of the Pollino. There is a system of trails that one can hike throughout the park and do some camping. We plan on returning and hiking down to the bottom of the gorge. We would have done so on this trip but we were on way further south.
It was like stepping back into the 14th century when we drove into the village. In fact,
Bilingual sign
All of the signs are in Albanese and Italian. Residents are bi-lingual as well. the village was founded in the mid-14th century. It was founded by Albanians that had fled Albania as the Ottoman Empire expanded into Albania. I was curious why signs were bi-lingual and I was unfamiliar with the language so I asked the landlady. She explained how it all came to be and that even she was still bi-lingual. She explained that though they were Eastern Orthodox, they recognized the the authority of the Pope. And indeed the church was baroque with a Byzantine touch. I should have taken photos but didn't.
As you can see in the photos, the village remains largely the same after all this time. The people were dressed like Eastern Europeans and some spoke in albanese. It was all facinating needless to say. Beth and I wandered about the village and since it was low season we were the only tourists in town. I also suspect that few tourists use this as a jumping off place for hiking the park and probably don't wander about the village looking in every nook and cranny. The people were very friendly and were surprised that we were American.
I've also included some photos taken on the drive up into
Room with a view
And what a view! 60 euro for one night and private bathroom, immaculate and a wonderful innkeeper. We loved it. this village. It is reminiscent of southern Idaho in some respects. Next weekend we hope to drive to Matera. This is the area where the film "The Passion of Christ" was filmed. The next parts of this post will deal with our stay in Calabria.
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Mary Ann
non-member comment
Truly beautiful; thanks for capturing.....