th
# 78 APRIL 18 , 2016
dating back to the Neolithic, Bronze
and Iron Ages (villages of Murgecchia, Murgia Timone and Trasanello):
all pre-historic sites that tell us about
human presence mostly made up by
shepherds and herdsmen. There are
also farms, sometimes fortified, the
characteristic sheep enclosures called "jazzi", cisterns, water troughs
and wells.
The Rupestrian Churches
There are over 150 rock churches
in the Murgia National Park; all present different architecture and iconography, among these we can name
San Leonardo, San Giacomo, Cappuccino vecchio and Santa Cesarea.
They were made mostly in the early Middle Ages during a period that
saw the intersection of the Greek
Byzantine culture with the Latin world and they also are carved into the
rock. What is most surprising is that
even though they were born as places of worship, in the course of time
the churches were also used for other
purposes, being turned into homes or
animal shelters when required. These
churches also represent an important
evidence of human presence, in particular relating to Benedictine monks,
Longobards and Byzantines.
Nature
The Murgia National Park is characte-
30 | WE THE ITALIANS
www.wetheitalians.com
rised by a varied and wild nature
which includes approximately 1,200
botanical species (one sixth of the
national flora and a third of the region’s): a remarkable number for an
area of about 7000 hectares. In this
magnificent place crossed by the river Bradano and the streams Gravina and Jesce, there are about a hundred rare and extremely rare species.
Abundant wildlife testimonies to this
amazing natural wealth: foxes, hares,
porcupines, wild boars and wild cats
along with important birds of prey
such as the red kite, the Lanner falcon, the Egyptian vulture and above all the lesser Kestrel with spread
wings, the small raptor which is the
park’s symbol.
Good to know
The CEA Environmental Education
Centre of Matera was created to help
discover and learn to love the Murgia
National Park of the Matera region by
annually proposing hikes, meetings
and guided tours for thousands of visitors of all ages. Numerous tokens of
the prehistoric period are preserved
at the National Museum “Domenico
Ridola" in Matera, while traces from
the Greek (VIII-VII century BC) and
Roman period (from III BC) can be
tracked down in the area of Montescaglioso.