Barile (; Lucano: ) is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the

province of Potenza The province of Potenza (; Potentino: ) is a province in the Basilicata region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Potenza. Geography It has an area of and a total population of 369,538 (as of 2017). There are 100 ''comuni'' (singular: ''com ...

, in the Italian region of

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

. It is bounded by the ''comuni'', of Ginestra, Rapolla,

Rionero in Vulture Rionero in Vulture () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is located on the slopes of Monte Vulture in the northern part of the region. The village was founded and historically inh ...

, Ripacandida, and

Venosa Venosa (Neapolitan language, Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Pala ...

. The town is an ancient Arbëreshë settlement, and the population still maintains strong links with that culture. The

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

, ''barile'', means 'barrel' in Italian. The people of Barile speak Italian and Arbëreshë, a dialect of Albanian. The locals managed to preserve Albanian language and culture over the centuries, as the village was founded by groups of Greek and Albanian immigrants. The first flow of immigrants is considered to have settled in the area in 1447.

Main sights

*Church of Madonna di Costantinopoli: it was probably built in the middle of the 17th century. According to tradition, Our Lady appeared in a dream to a farmer, and she pointed to a place where, if he would dig, he would find her image painted on the

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

. The building has a wall

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

of the Madonna in the Byzantine style of the 14th century. *Mother Church, also dedicated to the protector of the city. It houses a 15th-century Byzantine painting, representing the Madonna of Constantinople, and a 17th-century canvas, depicting the Virgin Mary pierced by seven stilettos. *Church of St. Athanasius and St. Rocco, probably built in 1640 under the supervision of Raffaele Daniele, the oldest of the Brotherhood. The earthquakes of 1931 and 1980 further damaged the structure, which has been restored several times. Inside the church are four paintings of the 1640 Neapolitan school. A canvas of the Neapolitan school, depicting the Madonna del Carmine, painted at the end of the 18th century is preserved in the church of the Carmelite convent of ''Santa Maria del Carmine''. *Church of Nicholas, with a 1464 canvas of the ''Annunciation'', and another painting by Girolamo Bresciano of the 17th century. *In the town square is ''La Fontana dello Steccato'' (English: "The Fountain of the Fence"), built in 1713 and depicting three figures with apotropaic heads that, according to the

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, should keep far from the fountain any magic and malignant influences. At the top is visible a coat of arms, where there is carved the Madonna of Constantinople with the Christ Child. *''Seshë'' (which means "square" in the ancient Arbëreshë language) are caves dug in the rock by the first Albanian immigrants, nowadays used to store Aglianico wine. The cellars of the ''Seshë'' are visible in the film ''The Gospel according to Matthew'' (1964) by

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

. In August, these cellars host the cultural event "Cellar Wine & Art", in which various forms of art such as music, painting, cinema, and sculpture meet with Aglianico and diverse gastronomic products typical of the area.

References

External links

{{Authority control Arbëresh settlements Cities and towns in Basilicata