Basilicata: 131 towns to search, in two provinces

Basilicata has 525,281¹ residents spread across 131¹ towns and only two provinces, Potenza and Matera, so the first question in any family search has just two possible answers.

131 towns in two provinces

On the ISTAT estimate for January 1, 2026, Basilicata has 525,281¹ residents in 131¹ comuni. Every one of them belongs to the province of Potenza or the province of Matera, the only two the region has.

Only Valle d'Aosta, at 122,554², and Molise, at 285,940², have fewer residents. Divide Basilicata's population by its towns and you get just over 4,000 people per comune, which is our arithmetic, not an ISTAT figure.

That short list is useful. A town name misspelled on a ship's manifest or a baptism record can be matched against 131¹ names, which is a list you can read in one sitting.

2,511,372 nights, and the ones nobody counts

Basilicata recorded 2,511,372³ overnight stays in 2024, 0.54%³ of the national total. A share that small means almost nothing is written in English about the inland towns.

The statistics also miss the people this page is for. Across the South, 38.3%⁴ of domestic trips are spent at the homes of relatives or friends, and a night in a cousin's spare room does not reach an accommodation register.

In practice: expect to phone, not to book online, and expect the person who answers to know your family before you have finished the surname.

From Bari airport: a train, then the FAL

Bari Karol Wojtyla, in Puglia, handled 7,977,881⁵ passengers in 2025, up 9.7% on 2024, and it is the gateway this page works from. A Ferrotramviaria train leaves from a station inside the terminal, joined to arrivals by a 300⁶ meter tunnel, and reaches Bari Centrale in about 17 minutes.

From Bari, Matera is served by the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane, a narrow-gauge network. The 2024-2033 service contract with the Basilicata region sets a direct Bari-Matera time of 1 hour 25 minutes, against 1 hour 42 before, and plans a Sunday service from September 2026.

Both of those are commitments on paper, announced in 2023, not a timetable anyone has ridden. Check the FAL planner and its service notices for your date.

What this page leaves out

There is no route to the province of Potenza on this page, because no train or bus connection to it is in the data this site has verified. That half of the region needs its own planning, and the regional page is the place to start.

There is no citizenship guidance here either, by editorial rule. The law has been changing since 2025, and the Italian consulate responsible for where you live is the only address that can answer for your case.

See also Basilicata, roots travel, Matera, the capital without a railway and how busy Basilicata gets.

↑ Contents