BASILICATA AND MATERA

The sea, gnarled mountains and wide plains define the landscape of Basilicata. WIt appears wild and hard this barren landscape and yet it is breathtakingly beautiful. The small region "Lukania", as it has been since the 5th century B.C., was inhabited since prehistoric times and first settlements date back to the Paleolithic. Agricultural settlements such as Matera and Melfi indicate the Neolithic period. And from the Eneolithic to the Bronze Age, this region was an important link between the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west and the Ionian Sea to the east. The "Land of the Lucanians", which has only been called "Basilicata" since 1947, derived from "Basileus", Land of the Kings", has always been a land of farmers, marked by poverty, hard work and deprivation. Oppressed by large landowners, the people led a miserable existence. It was not until 1950, after widespread uprisings and protests, that an agricultural law regulated the ownership situation in the region. Agricultural workers became small entrepreneurs farmers in self-cultivation. The "Lucanians" have bundled their strengths with nature, remembered the original and allowed necessary investments with a lot of empathy and vision. The result: according to the different fauna and flora, the different cultivation cultures and typical regional products developed under strict ecological guidelines. These include not least the "Peperoni di Senise" from the Matera region, the "Aglianico" the wine from the Matera wine region and the cereals from the vast plains of Matera, the "Granary of Lucania". Basilicata is also the land of "Maiatica", a variety of olives that grows on the hills of Matera and the Basento Valley. Maiatica is a type of olive that grows only in this part of the world. A black olive that is fully ripe, suitable both for the production of olive oil and for consumption.
 

„SIMPLICITY IS THE ULTIMATE SOPHISTICATION“

If it had taken proof of the accuracy of Leonardo da Vinci's quotation, it would have been found here, in Basilicata. The country's most important economic factor, agriculture, is committed to preserving the "original" and the "simple" and we at „DAVINZI‘ follow the same, albeit simple philosophy.“. The city of Matera is also committed to the preservation of the "original" in terms of urban planning: the cave settlements known as "Sassi di Matera", which make up a significant part of the old town, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993 and in October 2014, Matera became the first city in Southern Italy voted "European Capital of Culture 2019". Basilicata, a fantastic landscape, with wonderful, genuine products, with simple, honest people who, in a tradition that has grown over centuries, have preserved this estate:„Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication“.

Domenico Vinzi
DAVINZI, Prodotti delle COLLINE DI MATERA^®