Castelmezzano

Orange Flag of the Italian Touring Club

Having the Lucanian Dolomites as a backdrop is a privilege that makes the village of Castelmezzano, in the Gallipoli Cognato Piccole Dolomiti Lucane Regional Natural Park, even more fascinating. For the more intrepid, this breathtaking landscape can best be enjoyed by the flight of the Angel: suspended on a steel cable linking the peaks of Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa, you can glide along in a fantastic, adrenaline-filled adventure that is unique in Italy and the world, also for the maximum height at which you fly. In general, there are numerous open-air activities offered in the area, including the Via Ferrata Salemm, an equipped route to climb the Lucanian Dolomites and reach otherwise inaccessible points, and the Path of the 7 Stones, a "literary" walk along an ancient peasant path, where you can discover tales from the past linked to the collective imagination.

In the medieval historical centre, there are buildings embedded in the rock and steep stairways through alleyways that lead to the peaks above the village, from where you can enjoy wonderful views. In Piazza Caizzo, at the heart of the village, you can see the Romanesque façade of the mother church of Santa Maria dell'Olmo.

Tradition, which at table is mainly represented by Lucanian Dolomite lamb and crostole, a typical sweet eaten in the period prior to a wedding, reaches its peak in May in the "Marriage of the Trees", an ancient ritual with a strong theatrical impact: a long trunk of turkey oak (the "Tree of Liberty"), chosen and cut with traditional woodcutters' tools, is dragged by pairs of oxen to the village and then raised after "marrying" "the top", a holly tree, also carried to the village on the shoulders of young people. The auspicious fertility rite ends with the shooting of the top by local hunters.