Nova Siri: A Basilicata Village Between Greek History and the Ionian Sea
Nova Siri is a small town in the province of Matera, in Basilicata — the region often called the “instep” of the Italian boot — perched on a hill 355 metres above sea level, right at the border with Calabria. “Nova Siri” actually describes two places at once: the historic hill village and Nova Siri Marina (or Scalo), its coastal hamlet facing the Ionian Sea. Right between these two souls, hilltop and coastline, is where you’ll find our Terrazzo sullo Ionio.
2,700 years of history, in short
The name changed many times over the centuries, and each name tells part of the story. It all begins with Siris, a Greek colony founded around the 7th century BC at the mouth of the river of the same name (today called the Sinni), capital of the fertile Siritide region. Under Roman rule the settlement became Castrum Boletum; through the Middle Ages it consolidated as Boleto, then Bollita, a name that stayed in use until 1872. The village castle, clearly Byzantine in origin, functioned for centuries as a fortified farmstead, passing through the hands of several feudal families, from the Monforte to the Angevins, down to the De Castro family under Spanish rule.
A detail few visitors know: a baron of Bollita, Diego Sandoval de Castro, sits at the centre of one of the most poignant literary stories of the Italian Renaissance. His correspondence with the Lucanian poet Isabella Morra, lady of the nearby village of Valsinni, ended in tragedy and later inspired a famous essay by philosopher Benedetto Croce. The castle of Valsinni, where the story unfolded, is just minutes from Nova Siri and is a stop we always recommend to curious guests.
Until 1816, the territory of Nova Siri was administratively tied to Calabria; only that year was it assigned to Basilicata, drawing the borders we know today.
One village, two souls
The historic centre still has stone alleys, noble palazzi, and the Porticella quarter with its distinctive “lamie” arches. From near the castle, on a clear day, the view reaches as far as Taranto. The Chiesa Madre di Santa Maria Assunta, built in Baroque style, holds 18th-century paintings inside.
Nova Siri Marina, by contrast, mostly developed from the 1970s onward and is today the beating heart of daily life and services. Most of the roughly 6,800 residents live here, a demographic stability that’s rare for an inland Lucanian town, many of which struggle with depopulation.
A place made for slow travel
Nova Siri Marina is also a historic stop on the “Basilicata Coast to Coast” trail, the hiking route that crosses the region from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian Sea. Pollino National Park, one of Italy’s largest, is a short drive away. It’s a territory that rewards travellers looking for something authentic, away from the main tourist crowds, with the sea ten minutes away and Matera forty.
If you’d like to explore this corner of Basilicata at a slower pace, Terrazzo sullo Ionio is the ideal base: we’re right in the historic centre, within easy reach of both the sea and Matera.