The best MTB trails around Palagiano

Nice ride from Crispiano to Massafra passing through Palagiano

South-east of Mottola, in the Gorgone area near the Lamaderchia farm, along the ancient Via Consolare which represents a medieval branch of the Via Appia, stands the jewel in the crown of the Mirabili Grotte di Dio Mottolesi, the rock church of San Nicola, so named by Charles Diehl who was the first to describe it in 1894, an object of devotion for centuries of the local inhabitants, as well as of the Crusaders and pilgrims who travelled to Taranto and Brindisi from the inland regions to embark for the Holy Land. The beauty of its frescoes, cleaned for the first time in 1972 and restored in August 1989, after the vandalism of some heads of the wall icons, have led to it being defined as the Sistine Chapel of the rock civilization in Southern Italy. In truth, in this rock church we find ourselves in front of the most complete and astonishing art gallery of the popular sacred art of Puglia, which manages to fully highlight the testimonies of the various theological and artistic influences of oriental and Latin origin, spanning almost four centuries of the Middle Ages. The church is located on the edge of the ravine and can be accessed via stairs carved into the rock and adapted from the recent iron structure prepared by the Superintendency. A double-ringed lunette surmounts the door to the crypt and on it are visible traces of painted decoration of a half-length haloed figure.

The castle stands on the highest point of the town, in a strategic position to control the surrounding territory. From its summit you can observe the territory at 360 degrees up to the mountains of Sila (Calabria). There is a relationship of continuity between the houses dug into the ravine and the castle, whose construction probably began in the first half of the 16th century by the Domini Roberti family for the defense of the hamlet of Palagianello , finished, but not completely, in the 18th century under the rule of the Caracciolo. The castle, which has a massive quadrangular plan with a large central courtyard , equipped with four towers at the external corners, has all the defensive structural characteristics of the 16th century fortresses . The current entrance to the castle is located on the south side, while originally it was located to the west and was accessed via a drawbridge located over a moat, still existing today, which runs along the entire west side and part of the north side. The drawbridge has been replaced by a brick bridge with two arches. On the lower floor there are the warehouses and stables while on the upper floor there are the rooms that were used as the feudal lord's residence; in correspondence with the entrance , at the end of the staircase that leads to the upper floor there is a large hall for representative meetings with a vaulted ceiling, supported by apse arches, on which the family coat of arms is frescoed. In a room on the ground floor there is a trap door that leads to a secret passage that flows into the ravine of Palagianello. In 1874 the old entrance was closed to create a chapel in honor of the Virgin of the Seven Sorrows designed by the architect Gabriele Califano , commissioned by Count Antonio Stella Caracciolo . The Chapel was given in perpetual use by Count Caracciolo to the Confraternity of the Addolorata.

Breathtaking view

MTB

Perhaps the route of a disused railway line

Santa Lucia Bridge, a disused railway bridge over the ravine of the same name

Passing Palagiano