Beyond the enchanted Sassi of Matera, one
is absorbed by the charm of the hinterland,
with its surprisingly contrasting characteristics. Gazing
at the gentle horizon, it is easy to get lost amongst the
infinite, meandering hills which have been worked by the
patient hand of man over time. Every now and again, on the
hillside, appears a great old tree, a little country house,
or a large farm-house, or some small town rich in history
and charm, sheltered by mountain peaks that defended it
for years from malaria and the assaults of conquerors.
How many hands worked in these fields and who can imagine
how many stories this land holds?
Along the valleys of Bradano
and Basento, are the more fertile lands, protected from
the south-east by the warm winds of the sea and from the
north-west by the rocky peaks and verdant forests of the
mountains.
Travelling further south, the landscape becomes dryer and
harsher, almost desert-like. 
It is a moving experience to pass from the lush scenery
of Stigliano and Accettura, to the arid, ghost-like silence
of the ‘Calanchi’, the otherworldly clay formations,
found south-west of Matera.
Here the mountains jut out like bare
skeletons worn away by landslides and the erosion of time.
The land vacillates between the safety and refuge of the
mountain-side and the openness and vulnerability at the
edge of a canyon.
The sun-bleached houses worn
by the wind, are all gathered around the ruins of a castle,
its walls suffering from the dryness of the land surrounding
it.
