Basilicata
Potenza's Cattedrale di San Gerardo is the town's ecclesiastical highlight. Originally erected in the 12th century but rebuilt in the 18th (since then it…
Must-see attractions in Puglia, Basilicata & Calabria
Promontorio del Gargano
On the former site of Lucera’s Great Mosque (itself built by the Saracens over an existing church as a symbol of conquest) Puglia’s only Gothic cathedral…
Vieste
This palaeo-Christian graveyard dating from the 4th to 6th centuries AD is 9km out of town. Inside the cave, tier upon tier of narrow tombs are cut into…
Calabria
Housed in part of San Giovanni in Fiore's old abbey (the Abbazia Forense), the Museo Demologico exhibits tools from the town's strong artisan culture…
Reggio Calabria
Only two towers, restored in 2000, remain of the Aragonese Castle damaged by earthquake and partially demolished in 1922. The site is used for events and…
Osservatorio Astronomico Sirio
Valle d’Itria
This observatory, connected to the Grotte di Castellana, has telescopes and solar filters that allow for maximum solar-system visibility. Guided visits in…
Promontorio del Gargano
Frederick II’s enormous castle shows just what a big fish Lucera once was in the Puglian pond. Built in 1233, it’s set on a rocky hillock surrounded by a…
Calabria
In town, the 16th-century Chiesa Matrice di San Giorgio, with its splendid baroque facade and dressed-up Madonnas, houses the tomb of Joachim Murat, the…
Gallipoli
Founded in 1878, this dusty museum of history and natural history is a 19th-century time capsule, featuring fish heads, ancient sculptures, a 3rd-century…
Basilicata
Inside Venosa’s 15th-century Aragonese castle, this small archaeological museum exhibits finds from Roman Venusia and human bone fragments dating back 300…
Promontorio del Gargano
Dominated by a huge rose window, the Gothic Chiesa di San Francesco, contemporaneous with Lucera's cathedral, incorporates recycled materials from Lucera…
Monasterio di Santa Lucia e Agata alla Civita
Matera
A Benedictine convent from the 14th- and 18th-centuries, this church is now used to celebrate civil marriages. The views across the Gravina are…
Taranto
The gigantic rust-red 1930s Palazzo del Governo, inaugurated by Mussolini, is a forbidding and masculine structure, expressive of the fascist ideas of…
Bari
Exhibits artefacts from the adjacent Basilica di San Nicola, including chalices, vestments, parchments, relics and paintings.
Vieste
This esoteric shell museum has four rooms of fossils and molluscs, some enormous and all beautifully patterned and coloured. Note the seasonal opening…
Puglia
Explore the ruins of the ancient city of Cannae, scene of a famous battle between the Romans and a victorious Carthaginian army led by Hannibal in 216 BC.
Bari
The Colonna della Giustizia (Column of Justice) is the place where debtors were once tied and lashed (in the less gentle days of the 16th century).
Lecce
The graceful baroque structure next to Lecce's Basilica di Santa Croce, once a convent for Celestine monks, now houses the local government.
Vieste
Vieste's most gruesome sight is this worn and polished stone where thousands were beheaded when Turks sacked Vieste in the 16th century.
Cosenza
Built in the late 19th century, the Rendano is a leading Calabrian venue for opera and classical music.
Gallipoli
Now housing a cosmetics and fragrance shop, this beautifully decorated pharmacy dates to 1814.
