Bernalda has a founder with a first name and a surname: in 1497 Bernardino de Bernaudo, secretary to Alfonso II of Aragon, moved the village of Camarda onto the headland looking over the Basento valley and laid it out from scratch — seven wide streets cut by eight lanes, which are still the old centre. The town took his name.
In 1735 Charles III of Bourbon passed through, was well looked after, and in return granted it the title of city. The sea came late, only in 1930, when the comune stretched down to Metaponto and its Greek city. Of today's 12,264 Bernaldesi, one family went a very long way: that of Francis Ford Coppola.
Metaponto · Museo archeologico nazionale di Metaponto
Pane di Matera
21 places to stay · top rated: Palazzo Margherita 10.0 · Angelo's Country House 9.8
Next up: Feast of Saint Bernardino, Thursday 20 May
Nearest airport: Bari Palese, 81 km away
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📅 Every year, on 20 May; the second feast on 23 August
Bernalda celebrates Saint Bernardino of Siena on 20 May and 23 August. The fair dedicated to the patron has a precise birth date: a Bourbon decree of 1819.
Durum wheat semolina, thick crust, shaped as a horn or a tall loaf: Pane di Matera has held Protected Geographical Indication status since 2008.
Read more →Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Bernalda, but an easy day trip away.
