The oldest quarter of Trecchina is not named after a saint: it is called Castello, after the baronial palace it grew around. The building was put up in 1530 by the Palmieri barons of Latronico, and its ruins still sit above the roofs, dominating the old part of town. A castle at Trecchina existed before that, though: around 1500 the feudal lord Roberto Sanseverino, prince of Salerno, granted “la terra di Trecchiena” to count Michele Rizzo de Ricci of Castellammare di Stabia, who held it for barely any time — his family had backed the French entry into Naples and lost the fief over it.
What to see
Of the baronial palace you see what time has left, but the real monument is the village that grew around it: narrow alleys, houses leaning on one another, a medieval layout still legible for a simple reason. When Trecchina expanded in the 19th century it did not rebuild the old quarter, it went off and built somewhere else.
That somewhere else is called Piano, and it is the exact opposite of Castello: wide streets, a planned road system, and in the middle Piazza del Popolo, which covers more than 1800 square metres. Comparing the two Trecchinas takes a few minutes on foot. In the old quarter, on via Castello, the church of San Giovanni Battista also survives; it was the parish church until the role passed to San Michele Arcangelo, built in 1857 on the new square and one of the largest churches in Basilicata.
Visiting
Leave the car in the newer part, around Piazza del Popolo, and walk up: Castello is reached only through the alleys, which are narrow and steep. The ruins are not an equipped monument with tickets and opening hours: they are the backdrop of the quarter, and you look at them from below as you climb. Use via Castello, where the old parish church stands, as your starting point, and then keep taking whichever lane goes uphill.
Our editors' tip
As you climb, listen to how the older residents talk to each other: Trecchina speaks a Gallo-Italic dialect, brought here between the 11th and 12th centuries by heretical groups from Piedmont, from Monferrato in particular, and until the nineteen-seventies you could still hear the sibilant ending of the second person singular. It is the oldest trace the town has, and it is not in the stones. Then walk back down and buy some pane di Trecchina, recognised as a traditional food product of Basilicata.