A little solitary Jerusalem
Grassano, a literary village

Grassano is a little village in the province of Matera (Basilicata Region, Italy ); it rises on a bare hill scatched by deep erosions. It is placed between the Bradano valley and the Basento valley, not very far from the torrent Bilioso, “like a little imaginary Jerusalem in the solitude of a desert”.

Grassano was defined in this way in “Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli”, the most famous novel by the writer Carlo Levi: “In front of me rose the regular and bare hill of Grassano, like a big wave of earth, and on the top the village appeared almost unreal in the sky, like the image of a mirage (...). I climbed up again and went down again alone, through the unknown little streets, until I went to the church, in the wind, on the highest point of the village, to look all the horizons that extend as far as farther the borders of Lucania. Here, under my feet, (there are) the houses of the village with their yellowish roofs, and then (there is) the undulating and greyish slope of the hill that reaches the river Basento, (...)”.

Nowadays these places have become living protagonists of the “Literary Park” dedicated to Carlo Levi.

The commune of Grassano extends over a territory of 41, 07 sq. Km only, nevertheless is one of the most populous villages of the Middle Basento valley with its 6000 inhabitants.

Not so many pieces of information approximately are known about the origin and the foundation of this village and about the meaning of its place-name.
According to some the term of Grassano comes from the roman gentilitial term “Grassus”, but most historians maintain the place-name comes from the word “Crassa”, because of its fertile lands extended along the river Basento.

The most ancient document in which this community is mentioned is the “Bolla papale” of Callisto II, written in 1123, and in which is pointed out the name of “Grassanum”; according to the “Registro Angioino” of Basilicata, dated 1280, Grassano was a Tricarico’s “hamlet”.

At the beginning of 1300 the Owners of Tricarico gave the Grassano’s feud to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also called Order of Knights of Malta, which owned it until the beginning of 1800.

So Grassano became one of the most important Knights of Malta’s “commendas” of Basilicata, in fact 17 estates, in Basilicata and in Apulia, depended on Grassano’s commenda.

The Commander of Grassano was appointed by the Order and he dwelled in an imposing castle. This castle was built next to the Mother Church dedicated to S. Giovanni and S. Marco, but later on it was demolished.

From this ancient church, which was built in the upper part of the village, “the eye goes roving in all directions over an immense horizon, the same as all its circle.
You are in the middle of a whitish, monotonous and treefree sea of earth”, Levi wrote in “Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli”.
Inside the church there is an eighteenth century organ and a silver bust of the patron Saint of the village S. Innocenzo, celebrated on the twenty-second of September.

If you go down the steep little streets you arrive at Corso Umberto I. A lot of eighteenth century mansions look out on this street and among which it is possible to admire Palazzo Materi.
Palazzo Revertera, with its beautiful eighteenth century portal, was built on the border of the village.

Behind the historical centre of the village there is “i Cinti”, a beautiful geological and naturalistic site that was included in the “Literary Park” dedicated to Carlo Levi.
Here a long row of caves encircled by a rich and multiform vegetation winds along the track.

In the most central part of the village you can see the eighteenth century ex-convent dedicated to the Madonna del Carmine; in the past it was placed on the edges of the built-up area and now it houses the communal offices.

Inside the church you can admire some beautiful seventeenth and eighteenth century paintings and outside there is the eighteenth century conventual cloister.
The ancient refectory is worth recording because of its two eighteenth century frescoes in which are represented “The wedding of Cana” and “The last dinner”.

In the lower part of the village you can note Palazzo Ferri with its big squared court and next to it the church dedicated to the Madonna della Neve, characterized by an unusual onion-shaped roof.
Among its riches you can find an eighteenth century painting of neapolitan studies and a seventeenth century holy water stoup.

It is possible to go on delightful excursions on foot going along the ancient cattle-tracks that lead to the river Basento valley.
The water of the river is clean and abounding in fish, so you can go fishing and have a good time!

© Traduzione Cristina Calabrese (2005)

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