Pietragalla Palmenti Park, an historical heritage of Basilicata

Just in the heart of Pietragalla, a small town of just 4,000 inhabitants located in the province of Potenza in Basilicata lives the Palmenti Park. The alleys and arches of this town tell the story of a medieval village, set of rural buildings that house a complex of caves dug into the sandstone rock, where grapes are pressed. These particular structures were built starting from the 19th century and inhabitated until the 1960s. They bear witness to one of the most unique winemaking traditions in the area.



Pietragalla Palmenti Park lives in perfect harmony with its surrounding landscape. Today it can be visited and inside each structure you can admire the rooms used for the processes of pressing and fermentation. The Palmenti are equipped with two or four tanks connected to each other on different levels where the grapes are transported and pressed barefoot. The must, left to ferment for fifteen to twenty days, was then collected in barrels and transported in wooden barrels to the cellars of the historic center.



This surprising place is undoubtedly a much loved cultural and tourist site, a symbol of local rock architecture of extraordinary value. In the light of a recent renovation, the Palmenti Urban Park is still used by some families for the production of wine, farmers committed to keeping alive the history of the tradition of this wonderful land.

The village of Pietragalla is about 15 miles from Potenza and can be easily reached by car, an unmissable destination to start a journey to discover the wonders of a region of very ancient origin.

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