Craco

Craco stands on a clay ridge with a Norman tower on the summit, and the ground beneath it has been moving for decades: landslides worsened after infrastructure works in the 1960s, and the population was evacuated to a new settlement in the valley through the 1960s and 1970s, with the last residents leaving after further movement and a 1980 earthquake. The empty town remains, streets and shells intact but unstable, and it is entered only on guided tours wearing helmets along a fixed route. It has been used as a location for a number of films, and the surrounding badlands add to the effect.

What you actually see

• The empty streets - a town intact but uninhabited since the 1970s.
• The Norman tower - a keep on the ridge above the shells.
• The guided route - a fixed path through stabilised sections in helmets.
• The badlands - eroded clay hills surrounding the ridge.

When to go

April to October; tours are cancelled in rain and wind for safety. Summer heat on the exposed ridge is heavy. Booking is needed outside peak months.

Honest expectations

Entry is only on a booked guided tour with a helmet, on a fixed route; free wandering is prohibited. Tours are cancelled in bad weather. The site is genuinely unstable.

Nearby

Matera lies north; the Ionian coast is southeast.