Laghi di Monticchio

Monte Vulture is an extinct volcano rising to 1,326 metres in northern Basilicata, on the border with Puglia and Campania. At its summit, two ancient craters have filled with water over the millennia, forming the Lago Grande and Lago Piccolo di Monticchio. The two basins, separated by a wooded promontory, occupy cavities of volcanic origin and retain a cool, humid microclimate that sets them sharply apart from the parched, open landscape of the rest of the region. The water mirrors the profile of the surrounding forest with a precision that shifts with light and season, from the dense green of summer to the copper of the Turkey oaks in autumn.

The forest that wraps around the shores is a mixed woodland made up mainly of Turkey oaks, alders and chestnuts. The density of the canopy creates a continuous filter between sky and ground, keeping the air humid and the temperature noticeably lower than on the surrounding plains. The paths that trace the banks of the two lakes unfold in a silence broken only by birdsong and the sound of water. It is in this setting that forest bathing — the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, the conscious immersion in a forest environment — finds a natural counterpart, with no need for adaptation or staging.

On the promontory dividing the two bodies of water stands the Abbazia di San Michele (Abbey of San Michele), a Benedictine foundation whose presence dates back to the Middle Ages. The structure, carved in part into the volcanic rock, introduces a historical and contemplative dimension that overlays the natural one without contradicting it. The monastery shaped the religious and cultural life of the Vulture area for centuries, and its position — suspended between the two lakes, reachable on foot through the woods — makes it a point of orientation, both physical and symbolic, within the landscape.

The area of the Laghi di Monticchio (Monticchio Lakes) falls within the municipality of Rionero in Vulture, in the province of Potenza, and is part of a protected zone that also includes the Riserva Naturale Regionale di Grotticelle (Grotticelle Regional Nature Reserve). The volcanic soil, rich in minerals, is the same that gives Aglianico del Vulture — a wine with controlled and guaranteed designation of origin produced in this part of Basilicata — its structure and longevity. Land and water, in this corner of the southern Apennines, share the same geological origin.