Pisticci 1
On top of Pisticci all covered with … houses, very white mostly with red roofs all hoping that they stay put and don’t slide down the hillside which they have been doing for centuries here in Matera’s fourth biggest city. The City is built on top of clay and when conditions are right the town is prone to massive landslides when rain is added in the mix. The day before we stopped into the city on our way to Craco and while parked in the lower part of the city we experienced a massive quick rain which flooded every street and cleaned up every piece of trash from top to bottom in one enormous tsunami rolling towards the lower valley.
The town used to be reached on a steep road littered with switchbacks but recently they have added a tunnel roadway that brings you up the mountain avoiding most the water and landslide maintenance issues and just maybe keeping some from being swept away. The last major landslide was in 1976 and the city is still recovering and trying to come with ideas to stabilize what is possible and abandon the sections that are unstable.
For all its instability the city is elegant and a treasure to be savored, the people are friendly but as with most places in Basilicata outside of the Sassi the tourist is on display for the locals as they gape slack jawed at the beauty of the place. But as with everywhere in this region tourists are usually the topic of conversations or stares being such an oddity and is to be expected in villages and towns that mark their passing centuries not years.
I took this on Oct 6th, 2018 with my D750 and Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 Lens at 34mm 1/160s f`11 ISO 100 processed in LR, PS +Lumenzia, Topaz , and DXO
Disclaimer: My style is a study of romantic realism as well as a work in progress
Pisticci 1
On top of Pisticci all covered with … houses, very white mostly with red roofs all hoping that they stay put and don’t slide down the hillside which they have been doing for centuries here in Matera’s fourth biggest city. The City is built on top of clay and when conditions are right the town is prone to massive landslides when rain is added in the mix. The day before we stopped into the city on our way to Craco and while parked in the lower part of the city we experienced a massive quick rain which flooded every street and cleaned up every piece of trash from top to bottom in one enormous tsunami rolling towards the lower valley.
The town used to be reached on a steep road littered with switchbacks but recently they have added a tunnel roadway that brings you up the mountain avoiding most the water and landslide maintenance issues and just maybe keeping some from being swept away. The last major landslide was in 1976 and the city is still recovering and trying to come with ideas to stabilize what is possible and abandon the sections that are unstable.
For all its instability the city is elegant and a treasure to be savored, the people are friendly but as with most places in Basilicata outside of the Sassi the tourist is on display for the locals as they gape slack jawed at the beauty of the place. But as with everywhere in this region tourists are usually the topic of conversations or stares being such an oddity and is to be expected in villages and towns that mark their passing centuries not years.
I took this on Oct 6th, 2018 with my D750 and Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 Lens at 34mm 1/160s f`11 ISO 100 processed in LR, PS +Lumenzia, Topaz , and DXO
Disclaimer: My style is a study of romantic realism as well as a work in progress