The patron of Aliano is Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, celebrated on 21 June.
The village is best known for Carlo Levi, who spent part of his internal exile here: in 1935-36, under the fascist regime, he was sentenced to confinement in Lucania for his anti-fascist activity, first at Grassano and then here, at Aliano — called Gagliano in the novel «Christ Stopped at Eboli» (1945), in imitation of the local pronunciation. Repeatedly asked by the village poor, he took up again the free practice of his profession as a doctor, coming to know at first hand the conditions of the local peasants. He later had himself buried here. The Carlo Levi historical museum, together with the restored house where he lived during his exile, retraces that story.
Around the village stretches the calanchi landscape, the characteristic slopes of eroded clay; since 2012 they have been celebrated every August by the paesologia festival «La Luna e i Calanchi», directed by Franco Arminio.
