Isabella Morra lived shut inside this castle and here her brothers killed her, at twenty-six, when they found out she was writing to the Spanish poet Diego Sandoval de Castro. She was a Petrarchan poet, and her verses speak of almost nothing but that confinement: her father had fled to Paris in 1528 and she had stayed behind at Favale.
Favale, that is, land rich in springs, is the name the town carried until 1873. Above it, on the summit of Monte Coppolo, are the acropolis and the squared-block walls of a fourth-century BC city that some identify with Lagaria, the city myth says was founded by Epeius, the man who built the Trojan horse. There are 1,634 residents.
Castello di Isabella Morra
Pane di Matera
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Next up: Saint Fabian and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, between relics and poetry, Monday 10 May
Nearest airport: Bari Palese, 112 km away
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📅 Every year, on 9-10 May (Saint Fabian) and 21 July (Our Lady of Mount Carmel)
Valsinni celebrates Saint Fabian on 9 and 10 May, with the kissing of his relic and a procession, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 21 July; the town was the Favale of the poetess Isabella Morra.
Durum wheat semolina, thick crust, shaped as a horn or a tall loaf: Pane di Matera has held Protected Geographical Indication status since 2008.
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The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Valsinni, but an easy day trip away.
