Craco: The Ghost Town Suspended in Time

There are places that time has forgotten, and then there is Craco. This ghost borgo, clinging to a spur of clay and sandstone in the heart of Basilicata, was not forgotten by time: it was time itself that drove out its inhabitants, through slow and relentless landslides that from the 1960s onwards forced the entire population to relocate to the valley below, to the new settlement of Craco Peschiera.

Reaching Craco is already an experience in itself. Travelling along the provincial road that climbs from Stigliano or Pisticci, the borgo appears suddenly like a mirage: a compact mass of ochre-coloured stone houses that seems to grow directly from the rock, dominated by a tenth-century Norman tower. The effect is cinematic — no coincidence that directors such as Mel Gibson, Francesco Rosi and Pier Paolo Pasolini chose these landscapes for their films.

The guided tour begins at the welcome point at the foot of the borgo and winds along a route secured with walkways and protective barriers. Independent entry is not permitted for structural safety reasons, but the local guides — often descendants of the last inhabitants — transform the visit into a vivid and moving account. You pass through the main gate, climb via Rione, walk past the church of San Nicola with its still-intact bell tower, skirt Palazzo Maronna and reach the upper square, from where on clear days the view stretches over the surrounding calanchi all the way to the Ionian Sea.

Craco's calanchi deserve a chapter of their own. These clay formations, sculpted by erosion into sharp ridges and deep valleys, create an almost lunar landscape that changes colour with the light: pearl grey at dawn, golden at midday, vivid pink at sunset. The trail that leaves the provincial road below the borgo and descends towards the Cavone stream allows you to immerse yourself in this unique landscape, in a silence broken only by the wind and the occasional cry of a buzzard.

For lunch, the nearest restaurant is the Trattoria del Brigante in Craco Peschiera, where Signora Maria prepares dishes from the Lucanian tradition using strictly local ingredients. The dish not to miss is the crapiata, a soup of mixed legumes — chickpeas, beans, lentils, broad beans, grass peas — rooted in the oldest peasant cooking. Accompany it with a glass of Aglianico del Vulture and some Matera bread, crisp and fragrant.

If you have time, it is worth exploring the surroundings. A few kilometres away lies Aliano, the borgo that Carlo Levi made famous in his Christ Stopped at Eboli, where you can visit the museum dedicated to the writer and his grave in the small cemetery overlooking the calanchi. The road connecting Craco to Aliano passes through a landscape of rare beauty, among wheat fields, olive groves and clay formations that resemble natural sculptures.

To reach Craco by car, the most convenient route starts from the E847 Basentana, exiting at Pisticci Scalo and following signs for Stigliano–Craco. From Matera it is around 60 kilometres, just over an hour's drive on scenic mountain roads that are well maintained. There is no direct public transport, so a car is practically indispensable.

The most evocative accommodation in the area is the small B&B La Casa dei Nonni in Craco Peschiera, housed in a carefully restored farmhouse. The rooms are simple but welcoming, and breakfast features local produce: fresh ricotta, fig jam, fennel-seed taralli.

Craco is the perfect antithesis of mass tourism. There are no queues, no selfie sticks, no souvenir shops. There is only stone, wind, and the silence of a place that has much to tell those who have the patience to listen. If you are looking for an authentic alternative to the celebrated Matera — which equally deserves every visit — Craco will offer you a more intimate, more raw, more truthful experience. A place where undertourism is not a marketing choice, but a natural, almost inevitable condition.

Book guided tours in advance, especially on spring and autumn weekends, when the borgo draws small groups of photographers and enthusiasts of abandoned places. The best months are April, May, September and October, when temperatures are mild and the light is perfect for photography. In summer the heat can be fierce on these shadeless clay hills, while in winter rain can make the roads slippery.

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