San Paolo Albanese

Founded around 1534 by groups of Albanian refugees who escaped the Turkish invasions of the 15th century, San Paolo Albanese is the smallest municipality in Basilicata. Situated in the valley of the Sarmento river and surrounded by thick vegetation, the village has an urban layout based on the "gjitonia" (from the Greek for 'neighbourhood') model, in which groups of houses stand side by side on small squares configured as private outdoor spaces ('shesh'). 

Here too, the Italo-Albanian community has preserved the language, the Byzantine rite and very characteristic customs and rituals with a strongly symbolic character. 

Strolling through the streets of the village, among the beautiful 18th-century buildings, old mills and the kiln, one can still find craftsmen working with stone, wood, wicker or scented broom, and making dolls in Albanian costumes.

From San Paolo Albanese, there are also numerous paths leading through dense forests to the highest and most inaccessible rocky ridges of the Pollino Massif, home to the Loricate Pine, the rare tree species symbol of the park.