We went to Europe in October, first to visit Rotterdam and Paris and then I joined a tour group for southern Italy. There was an emphasis on Greco-Roman ruins and my wife felt that uneven paths and steps were not for her. She was right, and even in cities she would be far behind within the first 5 minutes of walking. From Paris she flew home.
I am writing the second half of my trip because there is less to say about it given that all the travel details were taken care of by Sicily Tour (https://www.sicily-tour.com/small-group-tours). I highly recommend this tour company, it is my second time with them, the first being a tour of Tunisia.emphasizing Roman ruins.
But complete satisfaction with a tour depends on forgetting the days of independent travel and at times previous visits. We had been in Naples in 2011, and had visited the requisite sites with the exception of Santa Chiara whose cloister must be seen.
https://flic.kr/p/2rFr9Uy
Other than that we had seen the main sights in a less regimented manner. I had a day to myself, and I took the opportunity to visit Procida.
https://flic.kr/p/2rFrvt5
It was dribbling that day, so I probably spent less time there than I would have on a sunny day. Our local Neapolitan guide dismissed the island as attracting mainly Italian visitors, which I did not see as a minus. Its plus is that it is a short boat ride from Naples, 20€ one way and 17€ coming back and is a nice respite from the big city. The Naples part of the tour included the surrounding area, of which we had already visited Pompeii and Herculaneum. I am aware that no single day visit will discover everything in these two locations, and in this instance, going with a group facilitated the entry but added little to my previous experience. The difference will be obvious with the photographs, particularly of Herculaneum. On the other hand, the guide gives explanations that would otherwise require reading books about society in the Roman empire. For example, there is a heavy emphasis on the fact that Rome was a slave society. Another is that gladiators generally did not fight to the death. They were owned/sponsored by rich Romans who would bet heavily on the outcome of an encounter and hoped to have a fighter whose win/loss ratio would cover more than the costs of training. Visits to the Cuma Archeological area and the Royal Palace at Caserta were more interesting to me as these were new venues; but I would not recommend them to first timers to the Naples area unless part of an organized tour. We also spent a day going to Amalfi and Ravello, but did not use the coastal road which could have long tie-ups; instead went over the mountain to come within a couple of kilometers of Amalfi. We had the opportunity to visit the cathedral and shop (I picked up a bottle of green limoncello) and toured the villa Rufolo in Ravello. Returned to Naples by going over the mountains. The views were spectacular but we never stopped to take photos—the difference between group and independent travel.
Here is the Naples album: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjvhZKSv
Back to the tour and its logistics. The tour is on the expensive side, especially if one takes into account that aside from the first evening group meal (which I missed because of a plane delay) we were on our own for the evening meals in Naples, and on the day trips for lunch (I do not remember the Pompeii/Herculaneum arrangement) but this was the case in Pozzuoli, Caserta, Ravello. The group consisted of 14 people, and by the time we left Naples we were reduced to eight because some members tested positive for Covid.
Our first stop upon leaving Naples was Paestum, notable for its Hellenic origin. We spent a couple of hours there. Aside from three temples, most of the ruins are at ground level, thus less impressive than the walls of Pompeii and Herculaneum. There is a small museum which should be visited, but I would not advise this as a day trip from Naples. Rather it would be a nice stop for a couple of hours when car touring. We were on our own for lunch and none of the venues looked particularly interesting.
After leaving Paestum, the itinerary consisted of the following stops, some overnight and some understandably consisting of just a few hours interrupting our day’s travel.
Padula Charterhouse:
One of the largest monasteries in Europe with splendid decorations. However it was difficult to coordinate the actual room number with the ones announced on the electronic guide.
We stayed overnight in Padula and ate as a group that evening. We left the next morning. Padula was our first and only traditional town cascading down a hill and I regretted the lack of time to just wander around the town, Evening comes fairly early in the second half of October
the WWF sea turtle rescue center:
The center is in the middle of a nature area that reminded me of the Camargue. We heard a talk about the continuing restoration of the sea turtle population, saw some pens of sea turtles who were being rehabilitated and pens of non-native turtles that had been caught; killing them would not fit their mission of saving turtles or tortoises—I don’t know the difference.
Matera
Matera was a major stop.
"One sees certain wild animals, male and female, scattered over the country, dark, livid, and quite tanned by the sun, who are chained, as it were, to the land they are always digging and turning up and down with unwearied stubbornness; they have a kind of articulate voice, and when they stand up they exhibit human faces, and in fact they are men." Les Caractčres, Jean de la Bruyčre
“By this time I knew a good many of the peasants of Gagliano. At first sight they all seemed alike, short, sunburned, with dull expressionless black eyes like the empty windows of a dark room.” Christ Stopped at Eboli, Carlo Levi
By this time Carlo Levi had individualized them, which is the only thing that separates them from the 17th century peasants. The passage is the beginning of the tenth chapter of the book which describes his sister’s visit. Carlo Levi never lived in the town of Matera because he was exiled to a town of 1500 inhabitants and relied on his sister’s description of the place. It was a town of 20,000 by her estimation, 16,000 to 18,000 official estimates in 1952.
From Google:
Before World War II, Matera’s economy was fundamentally based on subsistence agriculture, characterized by extreme poverty and known as the "capital of peasant civilization". The population largely worked as tenant farmers, cultivating wheat and harvesting olives (Maiatica variety) in the surrounding, often barren, hills. Life was defined by low industrial development and reliance on traditional, meager farming.
Key aspects of the economic base included:
• Subsistence Agriculture: The primary economic activity was the cultivation of cereals, specifically wheat, and the management of olive groves, particularly the Maiatica olive for oil and consumption.
• Peasant Economy: The majority of the population were poor farmers who resided in the Sassi district's cave dwellings, traveling to distant fields daily.
• Limited Resources: Due to environmental degradation and lack of infrastructure, the economy was underdeveloped and relied on traditional, non-mechanized methods.
• Local Crafts: Some small-scale, flourishing craft sectors existed, such as ceramics, woodwork, and textiles, though they were not sufficient to elevate the general standard of living.
Following the loss of regional administrative status to Potenza in 1806 and the subsequent decline of the area, the city became heavily impoverished, a situation that lasted until the post-WWII era.
I have problems seeing a descent from the system before 1806 to post 1806 conditions. The overcrowding, the lack of sewage system, the rampant malaria, dysentery and malnutrition must have been constants.
A long article in the Smithsonian magazine describes the transformation of Matera, which anywhere else could be described as massive gentrification in the most negative meaning, except that the idea of re-birth occurred a few years after the total relocation of the original population. It suggest that there is more to Matera than what the ordinary tourist sees.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/trave...gem-180949445/
As an ordinary tourist spending one full day in Matera, I had a guide, along with the rest of the group who led us to various sites on the sassi. We did see a cave which served as the miller’s work and living space along with the donkey or mule that turned the grinding stone. We see the physical space but not the entire family, and we need to imagine the unsanitary conditions that were part of its existence. According to Carlo Levi, the high beds were extra large to accommodate barnyard animals under the bed, the entire family on the bed itself except the infants who were in cradles suspended above the bed with a pulley system that allowed breast feeding while the mother was in bed.
https://flic.kr/p/2rJt3dS
https://flic.kr/p/2rJrMkz
We were also shown a rupestrian church, which in terms of decoration does not come close to those seen in Cappadocia
https://flic.kr/p/2rJsGxP
https://flic.kr/p/7pYN3u
But the Smithsonian article suggests that we barely scratched the surface.
There is a closed section of Matera that has remained untouched since the relocation of the population, The authorities are hoping to turn it into a re-creation of what it was when it was “the capital of peasant civilization”.
Ostuni:
A nice looking white town (the old town) with view of the countryside to the sea.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHD14n
Lecce:
We had a guided tour of its main Roman ruins but the final stop was in front of the Basilica di Santa Croce with an impressive statuary adorning its façade.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHCJNG
contrasting with the plain front of its cathedral:
https://flic.kr/p/2rHCJNw
Our stay was in the Grand Hotel near the train station whose lobby was adorned with copies of Tamara Lempicka portraits, or at least were inspired by them,
https://flic.kr/p/2rHD6Mw
We left Lecce to visit the trulli village of Alberobello. It’s called a village but with its 3000 inhabitants and its present orientation toward commercial activities it has left its rural/agricultural existence in the past. There are fields with trulli visible along the road, probably used as storage sheds and may have been temporary shelters for those working the fields or shepherds.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHxuUP
I am here relating the trulli to the cabanes de lauze found in the Dordogne and the Provence. But the trulli give a more tended appearance. Those in Alberobello are striking by their sheer number
https://flic.kr/p/2rHDjGF
and I wonder if they have been stabilized with an application of plaster. The tourist stores in any case do not show a rough interior structure of stone similar to this:
https://flic.kr/p/cNhbMq
We then visited the Castellana Caves which are geologic caves with no paintings. There are two different tours available—no photography allowed—and it appears that the two hour tour leads to exceptional formations which are not seen if taking the one hour tour. The one hour tour is not compelling to anyone familiar with other caves, but a visit would provide relief from the summer heat.
The Castel del Monte is a puzzle. The structure stands naked on top of a hill with a strict octagonal shape It combines elements of different cultures, such as a water closet fed by a rooftop cistern attributed to Arab influence Its actual role: defensive fort or hunting lodge is still being debated. Here is the UNESCO Heritage site description:
When the Emperor Frederick II built this castle near Bari in the 13th century, he imbued it with symbolic significance, as reflected in the location, the mathematical and astronomical precision of the layout and the perfectly regular shape. A unique piece of medieval military architecture, Castel del Monte is a successful blend of elements from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient and north European Cistercian Gothic.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHxgvp
Our last stop was Bari
. Until 20 years ago it was considered a dangerous city, unsafe at night, especially the old town with narrow alleys surrounded by a defensive wall. All this has changed; our young local guide dreams of living in the old town but car parking difficulties and the cost of housing prohibit the realization of the dream. Orchiette come from Bari and on one narrow street there are half a dozen stands with women shaping the pasta by hand which can be purchased although from another day’s production since the pasta needs some dying time.
That’s the end of the trip. Here is the album for the second half of the tour.
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCC4ey
I am writing the second half of my trip because there is less to say about it given that all the travel details were taken care of by Sicily Tour (https://www.sicily-tour.com/small-group-tours). I highly recommend this tour company, it is my second time with them, the first being a tour of Tunisia.emphasizing Roman ruins.
But complete satisfaction with a tour depends on forgetting the days of independent travel and at times previous visits. We had been in Naples in 2011, and had visited the requisite sites with the exception of Santa Chiara whose cloister must be seen.
https://flic.kr/p/2rFr9Uy
Other than that we had seen the main sights in a less regimented manner. I had a day to myself, and I took the opportunity to visit Procida.
https://flic.kr/p/2rFrvt5
It was dribbling that day, so I probably spent less time there than I would have on a sunny day. Our local Neapolitan guide dismissed the island as attracting mainly Italian visitors, which I did not see as a minus. Its plus is that it is a short boat ride from Naples, 20€ one way and 17€ coming back and is a nice respite from the big city. The Naples part of the tour included the surrounding area, of which we had already visited Pompeii and Herculaneum. I am aware that no single day visit will discover everything in these two locations, and in this instance, going with a group facilitated the entry but added little to my previous experience. The difference will be obvious with the photographs, particularly of Herculaneum. On the other hand, the guide gives explanations that would otherwise require reading books about society in the Roman empire. For example, there is a heavy emphasis on the fact that Rome was a slave society. Another is that gladiators generally did not fight to the death. They were owned/sponsored by rich Romans who would bet heavily on the outcome of an encounter and hoped to have a fighter whose win/loss ratio would cover more than the costs of training. Visits to the Cuma Archeological area and the Royal Palace at Caserta were more interesting to me as these were new venues; but I would not recommend them to first timers to the Naples area unless part of an organized tour. We also spent a day going to Amalfi and Ravello, but did not use the coastal road which could have long tie-ups; instead went over the mountain to come within a couple of kilometers of Amalfi. We had the opportunity to visit the cathedral and shop (I picked up a bottle of green limoncello) and toured the villa Rufolo in Ravello. Returned to Naples by going over the mountains. The views were spectacular but we never stopped to take photos—the difference between group and independent travel.
Here is the Naples album: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjvhZKSv
Back to the tour and its logistics. The tour is on the expensive side, especially if one takes into account that aside from the first evening group meal (which I missed because of a plane delay) we were on our own for the evening meals in Naples, and on the day trips for lunch (I do not remember the Pompeii/Herculaneum arrangement) but this was the case in Pozzuoli, Caserta, Ravello. The group consisted of 14 people, and by the time we left Naples we were reduced to eight because some members tested positive for Covid.
Our first stop upon leaving Naples was Paestum, notable for its Hellenic origin. We spent a couple of hours there. Aside from three temples, most of the ruins are at ground level, thus less impressive than the walls of Pompeii and Herculaneum. There is a small museum which should be visited, but I would not advise this as a day trip from Naples. Rather it would be a nice stop for a couple of hours when car touring. We were on our own for lunch and none of the venues looked particularly interesting.
After leaving Paestum, the itinerary consisted of the following stops, some overnight and some understandably consisting of just a few hours interrupting our day’s travel.
Padula Charterhouse:
One of the largest monasteries in Europe with splendid decorations. However it was difficult to coordinate the actual room number with the ones announced on the electronic guide.
We stayed overnight in Padula and ate as a group that evening. We left the next morning. Padula was our first and only traditional town cascading down a hill and I regretted the lack of time to just wander around the town, Evening comes fairly early in the second half of October
the WWF sea turtle rescue center:
The center is in the middle of a nature area that reminded me of the Camargue. We heard a talk about the continuing restoration of the sea turtle population, saw some pens of sea turtles who were being rehabilitated and pens of non-native turtles that had been caught; killing them would not fit their mission of saving turtles or tortoises—I don’t know the difference.
Matera
Matera was a major stop.
"One sees certain wild animals, male and female, scattered over the country, dark, livid, and quite tanned by the sun, who are chained, as it were, to the land they are always digging and turning up and down with unwearied stubbornness; they have a kind of articulate voice, and when they stand up they exhibit human faces, and in fact they are men." Les Caractčres, Jean de la Bruyčre
“By this time I knew a good many of the peasants of Gagliano. At first sight they all seemed alike, short, sunburned, with dull expressionless black eyes like the empty windows of a dark room.” Christ Stopped at Eboli, Carlo Levi
By this time Carlo Levi had individualized them, which is the only thing that separates them from the 17th century peasants. The passage is the beginning of the tenth chapter of the book which describes his sister’s visit. Carlo Levi never lived in the town of Matera because he was exiled to a town of 1500 inhabitants and relied on his sister’s description of the place. It was a town of 20,000 by her estimation, 16,000 to 18,000 official estimates in 1952.
From Google:
Before World War II, Matera’s economy was fundamentally based on subsistence agriculture, characterized by extreme poverty and known as the "capital of peasant civilization". The population largely worked as tenant farmers, cultivating wheat and harvesting olives (Maiatica variety) in the surrounding, often barren, hills. Life was defined by low industrial development and reliance on traditional, meager farming.
Key aspects of the economic base included:
• Subsistence Agriculture: The primary economic activity was the cultivation of cereals, specifically wheat, and the management of olive groves, particularly the Maiatica olive for oil and consumption.
• Peasant Economy: The majority of the population were poor farmers who resided in the Sassi district's cave dwellings, traveling to distant fields daily.
• Limited Resources: Due to environmental degradation and lack of infrastructure, the economy was underdeveloped and relied on traditional, non-mechanized methods.
• Local Crafts: Some small-scale, flourishing craft sectors existed, such as ceramics, woodwork, and textiles, though they were not sufficient to elevate the general standard of living.
Following the loss of regional administrative status to Potenza in 1806 and the subsequent decline of the area, the city became heavily impoverished, a situation that lasted until the post-WWII era.
I have problems seeing a descent from the system before 1806 to post 1806 conditions. The overcrowding, the lack of sewage system, the rampant malaria, dysentery and malnutrition must have been constants.
A long article in the Smithsonian magazine describes the transformation of Matera, which anywhere else could be described as massive gentrification in the most negative meaning, except that the idea of re-birth occurred a few years after the total relocation of the original population. It suggest that there is more to Matera than what the ordinary tourist sees.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/trave...gem-180949445/
As an ordinary tourist spending one full day in Matera, I had a guide, along with the rest of the group who led us to various sites on the sassi. We did see a cave which served as the miller’s work and living space along with the donkey or mule that turned the grinding stone. We see the physical space but not the entire family, and we need to imagine the unsanitary conditions that were part of its existence. According to Carlo Levi, the high beds were extra large to accommodate barnyard animals under the bed, the entire family on the bed itself except the infants who were in cradles suspended above the bed with a pulley system that allowed breast feeding while the mother was in bed.
https://flic.kr/p/2rJt3dS
https://flic.kr/p/2rJrMkz
We were also shown a rupestrian church, which in terms of decoration does not come close to those seen in Cappadocia
https://flic.kr/p/2rJsGxP
https://flic.kr/p/7pYN3u
But the Smithsonian article suggests that we barely scratched the surface.
There is a closed section of Matera that has remained untouched since the relocation of the population, The authorities are hoping to turn it into a re-creation of what it was when it was “the capital of peasant civilization”.
Ostuni:
A nice looking white town (the old town) with view of the countryside to the sea.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHD14n
Lecce:
We had a guided tour of its main Roman ruins but the final stop was in front of the Basilica di Santa Croce with an impressive statuary adorning its façade.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHCJNG
contrasting with the plain front of its cathedral:
https://flic.kr/p/2rHCJNw
Our stay was in the Grand Hotel near the train station whose lobby was adorned with copies of Tamara Lempicka portraits, or at least were inspired by them,
https://flic.kr/p/2rHD6Mw
We left Lecce to visit the trulli village of Alberobello. It’s called a village but with its 3000 inhabitants and its present orientation toward commercial activities it has left its rural/agricultural existence in the past. There are fields with trulli visible along the road, probably used as storage sheds and may have been temporary shelters for those working the fields or shepherds.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHxuUP
I am here relating the trulli to the cabanes de lauze found in the Dordogne and the Provence. But the trulli give a more tended appearance. Those in Alberobello are striking by their sheer number
https://flic.kr/p/2rHDjGF
and I wonder if they have been stabilized with an application of plaster. The tourist stores in any case do not show a rough interior structure of stone similar to this:
https://flic.kr/p/cNhbMq
We then visited the Castellana Caves which are geologic caves with no paintings. There are two different tours available—no photography allowed—and it appears that the two hour tour leads to exceptional formations which are not seen if taking the one hour tour. The one hour tour is not compelling to anyone familiar with other caves, but a visit would provide relief from the summer heat.
The Castel del Monte is a puzzle. The structure stands naked on top of a hill with a strict octagonal shape It combines elements of different cultures, such as a water closet fed by a rooftop cistern attributed to Arab influence Its actual role: defensive fort or hunting lodge is still being debated. Here is the UNESCO Heritage site description:
When the Emperor Frederick II built this castle near Bari in the 13th century, he imbued it with symbolic significance, as reflected in the location, the mathematical and astronomical precision of the layout and the perfectly regular shape. A unique piece of medieval military architecture, Castel del Monte is a successful blend of elements from classical antiquity, the Islamic Orient and north European Cistercian Gothic.
https://flic.kr/p/2rHxgvp
Our last stop was Bari
. Until 20 years ago it was considered a dangerous city, unsafe at night, especially the old town with narrow alleys surrounded by a defensive wall. All this has changed; our young local guide dreams of living in the old town but car parking difficulties and the cost of housing prohibit the realization of the dream. Orchiette come from Bari and on one narrow street there are half a dozen stands with women shaping the pasta by hand which can be purchased although from another day’s production since the pasta needs some dying time.
That’s the end of the trip. Here is the album for the second half of the tour.
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCC4ey
Michael,
That was quite the itinerary and quite the trip. I hope that other viewers appreciate the detail that you went into as much as I did.
Fave foto? Close call but I especially liked D11 in Alberobello. Nice touch of blue for balance.
Btw, the two surviving members of our city's famed rock band Rush apparently decided to do a 2026 reunion tour, whilst they were attending some health-spa facility in Ostuni last summer.
Where to next?
I am done. the mezzo
That was quite the itinerary and quite the trip. I hope that other viewers appreciate the detail that you went into as much as I did.
Fave foto? Close call but I especially liked D11 in Alberobello. Nice touch of blue for balance.
Btw, the two surviving members of our city's famed rock band Rush apparently decided to do a 2026 reunion tour, whilst they were attending some health-spa facility in Ostuni last summer.
Where to next?
I am done. the mezzo
Great trip report, Michael, what an interesting trip. Your photos, of course, are always wonderful; many off the beaten track sites... (or should that be sights) seem to make their way into your view finder.
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