What is Grottole known for?

Six hundred empty houses and around three hundred residents in the centro storico, the visible signature of inland Lucanian depopulation. Airbnb and Wonder Grottole's 2019 three-month volunteer programme drew about 280,000 applications for five spots in the village. Wildflower and millefiori varieties from apiaries in the surrounding pasture and scrub, anchor of the Città del Miele designation.

When is the best time to visit Grottole?

Apr–Oct. April through June and September into October are the months when Grottole's hill feels right. The light slants across the Chiesa Diruta and the empty stone houses; the air is mild and the surrounding fields are green. July and August push past thirty-five degrees and the centro storico empties between two and seven in the afternoon. November through March is quiet. Many houses close, the bars on the main piazza thin out, and the Diruta in winter fog rising above the Basento valley is the photograph everyone takes. The patronal Santi Luca e Giuliano falls in mid-October.

Grottole is a comune in the province of Matera, Basilicata region of Italy, about 93 kilometers from Bari.

How do I get to Grottole?

From Bari, Grottole is roughly 93 km by road.

Basilicata · Matera

Grottole

A hilltop borgo between the Bradano and Basento, where six hundred empty houses outnumber residents in the centro storico.

Known for

EMPTY CENTRO
Six hundred empty houses and around three hundred residents in the centro storico, the visible signature of inland Lucanian depopulation.
ITALIAN SABBATICAL
Airbnb and Wonder Grottole's 2019 three-month volunteer programme drew about 280,000 applications for five spots in the village.
HONEY
Wildflower and millefiori varieties from apiaries in the surrounding pasture and scrub, anchor of the Città del Miele designation.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Why come

Grottole sits on a hill between the Bradano and Basento rivers, seventeen kilometers from Matera. The current population is around two thousand on paper, but the centro storico has roughly three hundred residents and six hundred empty houses. At its centre stands the Chiesa Diruta, the medieval church of Saints Luke and Julian, roofless since the seventeenth century and photographed more often than it is prayed in.

The Norman-era Castello di Grottole, with a central watchtower, sits on the high point. The town drew international attention in 2019 when Airbnb and the NGO Wonder Grottole launched the Italian Sabbatical, a three-month volunteer programme offering five people the chance to live in the village free, in partnership with Fondazione Matera 2019. Around 280,000 people applied for the five slots.

The point of the experiment was not tourism but repopulation. Honey, anchored by the Città del Miele designation, comes from the surrounding scrub and pastures and is the village's signature product.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Grottole’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Chiesa Diruta
Medieval church of Saints Luke and Julian, roofless since the seventeenth century, the most photographed ruin in the centro storico.
Castello di Grottole
Norman-era fortress on the hilltop with a central watchtower, the high point of the village and the orientation marker visible from the surrounding valleys.
Centro storico
Stone village with around six hundred empty houses and three hundred residents, the Wonder Grottole programme working to restore and repopulate it house by house.
Chiesa Madre dei Santi Luca e Giuliano
Active mother church near the Diruta, holding services and the parish records for the small remaining residential community.

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Living here

Population 2,031
Off the beaten pathi
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Nearest airport Bari / Brindisi, 1 h 30 min drive
Regional capital Potenza, 1 h 12 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 481 m
Population: 2,031
Surface area: 117.15 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Bari

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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