Castelluccio Superiore – Castelluccio Inferiore – Rotonda

This stretch of the route is entirely within the Mercure-Lao valley. At first there are sweeping views on the orographic left side, which rise from insignificant heights, characterised by large cultivated fields and small villages clinging to the rocky ridges located on the slopes of the Pollino mountains.
The route winds along the right orographic bank, through authentic Turkey oak forests, cultivated land and tiny hamlets of the equally small villages well integrated on the western side of the Mercure. Finally, you climb up to Rotonda, from the northern side, along the ancient, paved mule track that connects the villages of the Valley. As you slowly go upwards, the views open up, you get the feeling of being on a film set where, where for visual aesthetics, the camera rises up and the valley shows itself in all its splendour. A variety of colours, that no painter would be able to create, characterises the many scenes of this natural theatre made up of areas that for centuries have been ploughed, sown, and planted and with countless houses and farms. You reach the Chapel of the Madonna di Costantinoli and then go up along alleys and stairways to the Cross which stands at the highest point of Rotonda’s historic centre. From here you can admire the landscapes, still with views of mountains, small villages clinging to the hills and impressive viaducts that connect deep valleys crossed by important rivers.

Third room in the Grotta di San Nilo, separated by a partition wall in stone and lime

Area

Lucania

Difficulty

E – Also accessible with MBT

Distance

18,85 km + variant Grotta di San Nilo 1,226 m (there and back)

Travel time

7 hrs – variant 0.5 hrs

Start

Castelluccio Superiore

Finish

Rotonda

Difference in altitude

↑ 535m ↓ 350m

Accessible

March to November

Springs and fountainheads with waypoint

Caccavo spring, Pitritto fountain

River/fiumare crossing (waypoint)

No

Route

Brief historical overview

Any house in Castelluccio Superiore perched on the slopes of Cozzo Pàstano can claim to be a balcony over the Mercure-Lao Valley, which marked the southern border of ancient Lucania.
Perhaps built on the ruins of the ancient “Nerulum” constructed by the Romans at the intersection of two very important trade routes: Via Popilia and Via Herculea. This community had a notable expansion and commercial growth in the Middle Ages when the fiefdom was bought and maintained for several centuries by Sanseverino. According to historians, the fortification of the castle, controlled by a Lucanian captain named Lucio, gave rise to the name: Castel di Lucio and later the current name Castelluccio.
The urban structure is common to that of many other towns in nearby Calabria: compact masonry buildings, packed together at different levels, with narrow and winding streets with steep slopes. In many homes the arched structures of the houses created small tunnels used as short cuts and protect passers-by from the elements.

An overview of the two Castelluccios. On top Castelluccio superiore.

Castelluccio Inferiore, due also to its particular orography, has had a remarkable building development over the centuries starting with the construction of the Marchesale Palace, which changed hands many times, but was always the seat of the most important families who ruled the fief. In the nineteenth century it was requisitioned and used as barracks for a garrison of French soldiers. Located in the centre of the town, in front of the Mother Church of San Nicola di Mira, it also has another entrance, distinguished by a splendid portal, on via Popilia, now named via Roma, which crosses the whole town longitudinally. With the rise to power of the Bourbon Charles III, the whole Kingdom of Naples was able to enjoy great benefits. Among these, to mention a few are: the construction of the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, the Royal Palace of Caserta, but also the establishment of the Corps of Engineers, with the task of looking after and improving the viability of the Kingdom, including the renovation of the Via Popilia. In Castelluccio, in the northern corner of the Marchesale Palace, a coaching inn was built where horses could be changed and also as a resting point for coaches. With the “One Thousand” even Garibaldi passed through this town, after having stopped in Rotonda. While in Potenza the liberals declared the end of the Bourbon dynasty and everyone sided with Cavour.

Castelluccio Inferiore. Interior of the refectory with a fresco of the Last Supper.

Grotta di San Nilo: these are two large caves, dug into the sandstone a few hundred meters from the town, facing the Magliasole channel in a beautiful forest of Turkey oaks and oaks. It is a sort of isolated hermitage formed by these two communicating caves.

In the first room of the Grotta di San Nilo

The Castrum Rotonde is mentioned for the first time in 1076 regarding a dispute between Duke Ruggero and the Abbot of Cava. Another document that speaks of Rotonda is found in the deeds of donations drawn up by the feudal Lord William of Naples in favour of the monastery of Sant’Elia di Carbone. The construction of the castle in the fifteenth century, on what was probably the remains of an old watchtower, testifies to the importance of the place.Rotonda has a beautiful historic centre full of aristocratic palaces that bear the signs of Spanish influence and the precise and sophisticated work by the numerous local stonecutters who decorated the palaces with portals, gargoyles and fountains. Giuseppe Garibaldi was hosted in one of these buildings in 1860. Rotonda is famous for the Fir Festival. This annual festival is celebrated from 9th to 13th June on the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua in memory of one of his journeys when the great saint found himself passing through the woods of Rotonda. Tired and exhausted, he stopped to rest at the foot of a fir tree on the Marolo plateau on the edge of a ravine. It is said that, at that same moment, a shepherd tripped up and while plummeting towards the bottom of the slope, he turned to the saint who saved him. In reality, the fir festival, linked to the cult of trees, is much older and takes place in several towns in Basilicata. The legend ‘Christianises’ the feast by linking the commemoration of the Saint to the rite that symbolises man’s revenge over the adversity of nature and the hope for optimal conditions for the new year, full of harvests and better living conditions. Rotonda is also home to the Pollino Naturalistic Museum where the remains of an “Elephas antiquus italicus” are preserved. This animal lived in the middle-upper Pleistocene era and was 4 metres tall and 6 metres long. The animal probably found its death sliding down the very steep bank of the Mercure lake, fracturing its skull, losing a fang and breaking its neck. Finally, the geographical position of Rotonda, invites a hiker to walk along the ancient mill road that leads to Fosso Paraturo: an impressive gorge where the turbulent water of the canal continues its course, making a series of jumps between well-smoothed rocks that show all its force.

Mercure Valley. Grazing cattle

Map and elevation profile

Further information

Guides of reference for the stage:
Andrea Vacchiano – tel. +39 348 2745771 – mail a.vacchiano@hotmail.it
Giuseppe Cosenza – tel. +39 347 2631462 – mail: uida@viaggiarenelpollino.it – web: www.viarenelpollino.it
Pino Di Tomaso – tel. +39 349 8758417- mail: pinoditomaso@gmail.com – web: www.facebook.com/pino.tomaso
Iole Esposito – tel. +39 0973 661331; +39 388 6927934 – mail: iole.esposito24@gmail.com

Where to eat

[Castelluccio Inferiore]

Grill – Ferro e fuoco – tel. +39 349 4601658 – web: https://bar-braceria-ferro-e-fuoco.business.site
Pizzeria – Da Angelo – tel. +39 320 7012282
Restaurant-Pizzeria – Pino Loricato – tel. +39 0973 663806

[Galizzi]

Restaurant – Al Cantuccio- tel. 0973 665396

[Rotonda]

Grill – A Rimissa – tel. +39 0973 661202 – mail: info@arimissa.it – web: www. arimissa.it
Pizzeria – Officine La Rossa – tel. 0973 512002 –  mail: officinelarossarotonda@gmail.com –  web: www.facebook.com/officinelarossapollino
Pizzeria – Carmata – tel. 334 311 5250
Pub – Capocaccia – tel. 333 172 6192
Winery – Pollino Divino – tel. 340 1728969

Last update: 2022-07-29