Lucano-Val d'Agri-Lagonegrese Apennine Park

Introduction

Parco Nazionale dell'Appenino Lucano - Val d'Agri - Lagonegrese, the youngest of the Italian national parks to be established, in 2007. The Park. with its almost 69,000 hectares is an authentic naturalistic apotheosis, with its peaks among the highest in the entire Southern Apennines and its thick forests of beech, turkey oak, maple and fir, the perfect habitat for many protected animal species such as the Apennine wolf the otter, wild cat, marten and southern squirrel, while in the skies it is very common to catch a glimpse of the trajectories of various birds of prey such as the golden eagle, peregrine falcon, red kite and buzzard. as well as coral owls and eagle owls.

Description

 Its longitudinal extension and highly indented borders make it a concentration of highly varied landscapes among valleys. hills and massive mountains. All framed by lush forests crossed by ancient sheep-tracks and dotted with evocative sanctuaries and silent, watchful villages that, perched on rocky spurs, peer down on the horizon. Places where black gold has been flowing underground for over ten years. the scene over the centuries, given their position as a link between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas (the ancient Via Herculia passed through here). of clashes between civilisations. whose exploits of ancient battles still echo. such as that of Grumentum, today Grumento Nova. on the Agri river. founded in the first half of the lii century BC. Here. as part of the Second Punic War. the Romans of Claudius Nero and the Carthaginian army led by Hannibal faced each other in 207 B.C. who. despite their mammoth elephants. suffered a crushing defeat. And it is precisely from here, leaving the SS 598 at the bottom of the Agri valley, that the journey can begin to discover the moorland that rises from the flat expanses of the countryside along winding panoramic roads to the steep mountains that offer breathtaking views of the surroundings and where, over the centuries, monks have often found refuge. Just eight kilometres from Grumento Nova. an intricate up and down of alleyways. the extraordinary remains of the ancient Roman colony of Grumentum. The archaeological area is one of the most important and best preserved in southern Italy, so much so that it has been nicknamed the Little Pompeii of Basilicata. Following continuous Saracen raids, the city was abandoned and its inhabitants found refuge in the surrounding mountains where they founded new villages and built castles and watchtowers that still exist today. Of the ancient Roman city, however, remain. perfectly visible the original urban structure of regular blocks and the remains of the aqueduct. theatre. forum. temple. some dwellings. thermal baths and an amphitheatre dating from the 1st century BC. close to the Pertusillo Logo. The latter, created by the construction in the 1950s of a dam dam damming the Agri river, is one of the largest artificial reservoirs in the region with an extension of 75 square kilometres and a capacity of 150 million cubic metres of water. A large blue stain that interrupts the green of chestnut and beech groves that reach down to the water surface, an oasis not to be missed by birdwatchers. Coots, mallards, pochards, white storks, black-winged stilts and grey herons dwell here. Leaving the bottom of the Agri valley, we follow the former state road 103 and provincial road number 11 and, crossing clearings and fascinating viewpoints, climb up to Viggiano, a mystical place in the region that preserves in its Mother Church the splendid 10th-century wooden sculpture depicting the Black Madonna, proclaimed Protectress of Lucania by John Paul II in 1991. In Moggio, an impressive twelve-kilometre-long procession carries the effigy on its shoulders to the sanctuary of the Black Madonna, the most important in the region, in a panoramic position on the Sacro Monte di Viggiono (l 725 metres). Here it remains until September and is then taken back to the village, where it is also possible to admire the characteristic stone portals on whose keystones musical instruments are often carved, a sign of the ancient local lute-making tradition, once famous for the so-called Viggiono harp, which is no longer produced, although there are still several workshops of artisans who make bagpipes and ciaramelle. In addition to the Mother Church, consecrated in 1735, which houses late 15th-century bas-reliefs in white marble, a 19th-century painting depicting Saint Caecilius, the patron saint

Information

Year founded: 2007
 Area: 69.000 hectares
Maximum elevation:
Municipalities concerned: Abriola, Anzi, Armento, Brienza, Calvello, Carbone, Castelsaraceno, Gallicchio, Grumento Nova, Lagonegro, Laurenzana, Lauria, Marsico Nuovo, Marsicovetere, Moliterno, Montemurro, Nemoli, Paterno, Pignola, Rivello, San Chirico Raparo, San Martino d'Agri, Sarconi, Sasso di Castalda, Satriano di Lucania, Spinoso, Tito, Tramutola, Viggiano
 Institutional site: www.parcoappenninolucano.it
Contacts: (info: Ente Parco. Convent of the Benedictines - Palauo Manzoni, Morsico Nuovo, 0971 /95.46.56 and 0975/34.42.22, www.parcoappenninolucano.it),