The Italian region (capital Potenza) lies "at the bottom of the boot". It is enclosed by the three regions of Apulia, Calabria and Campania. There are two short stretches of coastline on the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. Basilicata is characterised by a mountainous highland around the extinct volcano Monte Vulture in the north.
Viticulture can be traced back to the Phoenicians. The Romans called the land Lucania and this name is still in use today. The current name is derived from the Byzantine "basilikos", which in the 9th and 10th centuries was a term for the provincial princes who ruled here. In the 6th century BC, the Greeks allegedly planted the ancestor of today's dominant red wine variety, Aglianico, here.
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Dominik Trick
Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg