# Basilicata: Matera, Pollino, and oil

> Basilicata takes 0.54% of Italy's nights and still holds Matera. Three World Heritage listings, a contested park size, and the oil under the Val d'Agri.

URL: https://myitalia.it/regions/basilicata
Last updated: 2026-09-02

Basilicata accounts for 0.54% of Italy's overnight stays, 2,511,372 in 2024, and holds Matera, which is the reason the share tells you almost nothing.

## Two provinces, 131 towns, half a million people

Basilicata had 525,281 residents on January 1, 2026, spread over 131 municipalities and only two provinces, Potenza and Matera. Potenza is the administrative capital; Matera is the one people book.

The gap between visitor volume and visitor attention is the point of this region. A destination with 0.54% of the national nights still contains one of the most photographed urban landscapes in Europe, which means crowd pressure lands in one place and almost nowhere else.

## Three World Heritage listings, only one of them famous

Matera's Sassi and the park of rock churches went on the World Heritage list in 1993, and it's a landscape of cave dwellings cut into a ravine, occupied continuously and then emptied by law in the 1950s.

The other two listings are shared. The primeval beech forests, inscribed in 2007, run across seven Italian regions. The Via Appia joined in 2024 with Lazio, Campania and Puglia: the Roman road crossed Lucania on its way to Brindisi, and the Basilicata stretch is the quiet part of a very long site.

## Pollino, and a park whose size depends on the source

The Pollino National Park was created in 1993 and straddles Basilicata and Calabria, with its authority based at Rotonda in the province of Potenza. Its area is where the sources part company.

The environment ministry puts it at 171,132 hectares, which makes it the second largest national park in Italy behind Cilento at 178,172. UNESCO, which recognized it as a Global Geopark in 2015, gives 192,500 hectares, which would make it the largest. Both figures circulate as fact. If you see the claim without a source, that's why.

Basilicata also has a park entirely its own: Appennino Lucano, Val d'Agri and Lagonegrese, set up in 2007 across 68,996 hectares and 29 towns, all in the province of Potenza.

## The oil under the Val d'Agri

In 2025 Basilicata produced 84.8% of Italy's crude oil and 30.4% of its natural gas, from two oil concessions and four gas ones. Val d'Agri is operated by Eni; Gorgoglione, known as Tempa Rossa, by TotalEnergies. Sicily, the second oil region, is at 6.2%.

The two things overlap on the map. The Appennino Lucano park and the Val d'Agri concession cover much of the same valley, and the argument about that overlap is live and current, and it isn't a historical footnote.

## Bread, strawberries, and a cable across a gorge

Pane di Matera IGP has been in the EU register since February 22, 2008: a tall, hard crusted durum wheat loaf, baked in large formats because it was made to last a week. The newest Lucanian entry in the register is Fragola della Basilicata IGP, registered on October 29, 2025 and published on November 5.

Above the Basento valley, two cables link Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa across the Lucanian Dolomites. The San Martino line is 1,415 m long with a 118 m drop and reaches 110 km/h; the Peschiere line is 1,452 m with a 130 m drop and reaches 120 km/h. It runs from May to November, on booking only, for riders between 35 and 120 kg and at least 135 cm tall. Details on the Volo dell'Angelo page.

Basilicata's crowd pattern, month by month, is at [how busy Basilicata gets](/how-busy/in-basilicata).

## FAQ

### Is Basilicata just Matera?

No, but Matera dominates the visitor numbers. The whole region logged 2,511,372 overnight stays in 2024, 0.54% of the Italian total, across 131 towns and two provinces. Pollino, the Appennino Lucano park and the Ionian coast take the rest.

### Which UNESCO World Heritage sites are in Basilicata?

Three. The Sassi and rock churches of Matera, inscribed in 1993; the primeval beech forests, inscribed in 2007 and shared with six other regions; and the Via Appia, added in 2024 and shared with Lazio, Campania and Puglia.

### Is Pollino the largest national park in Italy?

It depends on the source, and the two don't agree. The environment ministry lists 171,132 hectares, second behind Cilento at 178,172. UNESCO, which made Pollino a Global Geopark in 2015, gives 192,500 hectares, which would put it first.

### What is the Volo dell'Angelo?

A pair of steel cables strung between Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa in the Lucanian Dolomites. The San Martino line runs 1,415 m with a 118 m drop, the Peschiere line 1,452 m with a 130 m drop, at up to 120 km/h. It runs May to November, by reservation only.

### Does Basilicata really produce Italy's oil?

Yes. In 2025 the region accounted for 84.8% of national crude oil output and 30.4% of natural gas, from two concessions: Val d'Agri, operated by Eni, and Gorgoglione, operated by TotalEnergies. Sicily is second on crude, at 6.2%.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nel 2024 Basilicata ha registrato 2.511.372 presenze turistiche. pari al 0.54% del totale nazionale | [Eurostat](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/tour_occ_nin2) | medium | 2027-07-31 |
| In Basilicata ricadono 3 siti UNESCO del Patrimonio Mondiale (2026) | [UNESCO World Heritage Centre](https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/it/); [Ministero della Cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/); [Wikidata (query SPARQL su P1435=Q9259, P17=Q38, P757, P131)](https://query.wikidata.org/sparql) | medium | 2027-08-31 |
| Il Pane di Matera IGP e registrato nel registro UE dal 22 febbraio 2008. | [MASAF - Elenco DOP e IGP prodotti agricoli (PDF, agg. 11/06/2026)](https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Fa%252F2%252FD.e7bdb4ebe6d458c7925a/P/BLOB%3AID%3D15453/E/pdf?mode=download); [Commissione europea - DG AGRI, registro eAmbrosia](https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eambrosia/geographical-indications-register/) | high | 2099-12-31 |
| La Basilicata ha 525.281 residenti al 1 gennaio 2026 distribuiti su 131 comuni e due sole province, Potenza e Matera (stima ISTAT) | [ISTAT - Demografia in cifre](https://demo.istat.it/app/?i=POS&l=it); [ISTAT - dataset comunale POSAS 2026](https://demo.istat.it/data/posas/POSAS_2026_it_Comuni.zip) | medium | 2027-03-31 |
| Il Parco Nazionale del Pollino, istituito nel 1993, si estende su 171.132 ettari a cavallo fra Basilicata e Calabria ed e' il secondo parco nazionale italiano per superficie secondo i dati del MASE, dopo il Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni (178.172 ettari); l'Ente Parco ha sede a Rotonda, in provincia di Potenza | [MASE - Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/web/guest/parco-nazionale-del-pollino); [doc 2](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/web/guest/parco-nazionale-del-cilento-vallo-di-diano-e-alburni) | medium | 2029-12-31 |
| La Basilicata e' di gran lunga la prima regione petrolifera italiana: nel 2025 ha prodotto l'84,8% dell'olio greggio nazionale e il 30,4% del gas naturale, da due sole concessioni (Val d'Agri di Eni e Gorgoglione di TotalEnergies) piu' quattro concessioni a gas | [MASE - Direzione generale infrastrutture e sicurezza / UNMIG](https://unmig.mase.gov.it/ricerca-e-coltivazione-di-idrocarburi/produzione-nazionale-di-idrocarburi/); [MASE - UNMIG, dataset produzione idrocarburi (CC BY 4.0)](https://unmig.mase.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/dati/produzione/produzione-2026.csv) | high | 2027-06-30 |
| La Fragola della Basilicata IGP e' stata registrata dalla Commissione europea con il regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2025/2239 del 29 ottobre 2025, pubblicato in Gazzetta ufficiale dell'Unione europea il 5 novembre 2025: e' l'ultima indicazione geografica lucana entrata nel registro UE | [EUR-Lex - Unione europea](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32025R2239) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| Il Parco Nazionale dell'Appennino Lucano - Val d'Agri - Lagonegrese, istituito nel 2007, copre 68.996 ettari su 29 comuni tutti in provincia di Potenza ed e' l'unico parco nazionale interamente lucano; l'Ente ha sede a Marsico Nuovo | [MASE - Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/web/guest/parco-nazionale-dell-appennino-lucano-val-d-agri) | medium | 2029-12-31 |
| Il Volo dell'Angelo collega in teleferica Castelmezzano e Pietrapertosa, sulle Dolomiti Lucane, con due linee: San Martino di 1.415 metri e 118 metri di dislivello (fino a 110 km/h) e Peschiere di 1.452 metri e 130 metri di dislivello (fino a 120 km/h); apre da maggio a novembre, solo su prenotazione, con peso ammesso 35-120 kg e statura minima 135 cm | [Comune di Pietrapertosa](https://www.comune.pietrapertosa.pz.it/it/luoghi/il-volo-dell-angelo); [Volo dell'Angelo - sito ufficiale dell'impianto](https://www.volodellangelo.com/) | medium | 2027-04-30 |
| Il Parco Nazionale del Pollino, istituito con DPR del 15 novembre 1993 e diviso fra Calabria e Basilicata su 55 comuni, e il piu esteso parco nazionale italiano: l'UNESCO, che lo ha riconosciuto Global Geopark nel 2015, ne indica 192.500 ettari, contro i 178.172 ettari del secondo, il Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni. | [MASE - Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/parco-nazionale-del-pollino); [UNESCO - International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme](https://www.unesco.org/en/iggp/pollino-unesco-global-geopark); [doc 2](https://www.mase.gov.it/portale/parco-nazionale-del-cilento-vallo-di-diano-e-alburni) | medium | 2029-12-31 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/region.basilicata.1600.jpg
Author: Benjamin Smith. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maratea_-_View_from_Camino_San_Biagio_-_03.jpg

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/regioni/basilicata.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/regiones/basilicata.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/regions/basilicata.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/regionen/basilicata.md