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Informations about the region Basilicata

Basilicata is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Puglia to the east, Calabria to the south, it has one short coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea and another of the Gulf of Taranto in the Ionian Sea to the south-east. The region covers 9,992 km² and in 2001 had a population of about 600,000 inhabitants. The regional capital is Potenza. The region is divided into two provinces: Potenza and Matera. The region is as a whole mountainous, the highest point of the southern Apennines being Monte Pollino (7325 ft). In Roman times the district was called Lucania.

Matera (Italian: Provincia di Matera) is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Matera. The town lays over a small canyon, which has been dug in the course of years by a small water stream, the Gravina. Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the so-called Sassi di Matera (meaning "stones of Matera"). The Sassi originate from a prehistorical (troglodyte) settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy. The "Sassi" are houses dug into the rock itself, known as "Tufo", which is characteritic of Basilicata and Puglia. Many of these "houses" are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the "Sassi" often are located on the rooftops of other houses. The ancient town grew in height on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now all but a small stream. The ravine is known locally as, "la Gravina". Like every city or town in Italy, Matera has its fair number of churches. However, nowhere else in Italy, and possibly even the world, will you be able to see such a diverse collection of buildings related to the Christian faith. Some even believe that the very first "churches" ever used for worship were formed in the slopes of the surrounding ravine.

Potenza is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. The city is one of the highest capitals of province in Italy, commanding the valley of the Basento river, on the Apennines of Lucania, east of Salerno. Its territory is bounded by the comuni of Anzi, Avigliano, Brindisi Montagna, Picerno, Pietragalla, Pignola, Ruoti, Tito, Vaglio Basilicata. Potentia was one of the most ancient free cities of Lucania. The first settlement was probably located on a lower site than now, some 10 km south of today's Potenza.