There is nothing quite like standing eye to eye with the Temple of Hera at Tavole Palatine, a 6th-century BCE Greek temple in the Basilicata countryside. In front of me are 15 massive Doric columns and a bunch of brush, and the only noise is the whir of occasional cars passing along the strada statale. I feel as if I’ve walked onto a set from Clash of the Titans or a live-action Hercules, which becomes even more epic when a group of art grad students from Milan wander in and start belting out the film’s song “Zero to Hero” in Italian. Surreal? Nope, this is the south, where myth, history, and pop culture blur beneath the Italian sun.
We’re on a road trip to uncover Southern Italy’s Magna Graecia, “Greater Greece,” a network of colonies founded by Greek settlers beginning in the 8th century BCE, who were drawn to the fertile soil and strategic harbors along the Ionian and Adriatic coasts. In what are now Puglia and Basilicata, cities such as Taras (modern Taranto), founded by Spartan colonists, and Metapontum (Metaponto) were vibrant centers of commerce, agriculture, and intellectual life, forging a powerful link between Greece and the Italian Peninsula. The area is often overlooked by history aficionados in favor of better-known destinations, like Pompeii near Naples and Paestum in Salerno, but it holds some of ancient Greece’s most incredible temples and ruins. Here we spot temples and ancient bridges and find ourselves time-traveling from Bronze Age tombs and Greek temples to Roman roads and submerged harbors.
This kind of road trip is a classic weekender for me and my husband, Darius Arya, an archaeologist devoted to unearthing and sharing the stories of ancient Rome. For nearly two decades, our idea of fun has been seeking out amazing archaeology—from amphitheaters outside of Rome to aqueducts in Tunisia to every basalt stone of the Appia Antica—while I track down unforgettable lodgings and the spoils that come with them.
Tavoline Palatine was founded in the 7th century BC by Greek settlers from the Peloponnese.
Erica Firpo
This time, we’ve driven south from our home in Rome to Puglia and Basilicata to trace the history of Magna Grecia, with a little ancient Rome thrown in for good measure, of course. With all this epic history, I knew I wanted to stay at equally epic hotels. Over the past few years, I had been dreaming about Palazzo Margherita, film director Francis Ford Coppola’s gorgeous nine-room boutique hotel in Bernalda, Basilicata. I had heard that in the neighboring Puglia, Masseria Torre Maizza was like a hidden oasis near the Egnazia archaeological site.
We split our nights evenly between Palazzo Margherita and Masseria Torre Maizza. While we started our trip in Rome, I suggest flying into Bari (Neos has a direct flight) and renting a car; you’ll cut your drive by 500 miles, and you can add in more exploration to find the Colossus of Barletta, among other sites. We went in July, but to maximize great weather and beach time, go between April and June or September through mid-October.
Day 1: Bari to Bernalda
Distance: 47 miles to Cannae (1 hour driving)
Our first stop is Cannae, or what is modern-day Canne della Battaglia, a small town outside of Barletta in Puglia. Today, Cannae is a field of olive groves as far as the eye can see, but for us ancient-history lovers, this is the site of a blood bath. In August 216 BC, during the Second Punic War, the Roman army fought Hannibal, the famed Carthaginian general who invaded Italy. Though 86,000 soldiers strong, the Roman army was outmaneuvered and annihilated by Hannibal and his much smaller army in a single day. Of the battle, nothing remains, but today you can visit the ancient Canusium, the archaeological site on the hillside overlooking the battlefield, and learn more at the Antiquarium di Canne delle Battaglia, a small museum nearby.
“From the later Roman site, you look out over flat fields—nothing special at first glance, but this is where Rome came closest to total defeat,” Darius tells me. “Reading Livy or Polybius [prominent ancient historians] while standing there, you can really picture the scale of what happened. It turns an empty landscape into something unforgettable.”
Hungry? From Cannae it’s a 15-minute drive to Barletta, an industrial port city with a charming historic center, a Norman fortress, and an enviable 16-foot bronze colossal statue of an unknown emperor standing guard in front of the main cathedral. Here, you’ll find Veleno Osteria del Mare, which specializes in such seafood dishes as linguine with clams, and mussels soup.
Day 1, continued: Cannae to Bernalda
Distance: 100 miles (2 hours driving)
We drive a couple of hours inland southwest to Basilicata, the heart of the ancient Greek–Italic Lucania culture. Our destination is Bernalda, a hilltop hamlet just off the coast. This is the Italy you’ve always imagined, a one-road town where everyone knows each other, and every day and evening follows the same routine: Walk the Corso Umberto I, the town’s main drag, to hit up the same three cafés and see the same friends, then repeat. Bernalda also happens to be film director Francis Ford Coppola’s ancestral home. When Coppola first visited Bernalda in the 1960s, he fell in love with its languid pace and sun-faded facades and bought a 19th-century villa for his family (Sofia was married here), eventually converting it into a hotel with the help of French designer Jacques Grange.
It’s impossible not to fall for Palazzo Margherita, which is deeply rooted in the surrounding landscape, history, and local culture. We were welcomed at the grand entrance—two towering portoni on Corso Umberto—by Rosella, the warm and gracious general manager, and stepped into a sun-dappled courtyard that seems like the heart of a noble Italian home.
The Sofia suite at Palazzo Margherita in Basilicata, Italy
GUNDOLF PFOTENHAUER
Rosella welcomes us with a Ciccio, Coppola’s favorite cocktail of vodka, Cedrata, tonic, and rosemary, and we enjoy it with sundried cruschi peppers. She leads us upstairs to the piano nobile, the heart of the palazzo. I sign the guest book just below Wes Anderson. Most of the nine suites, with their hand-painted frescoes, Murano chandeliers, and tile and marble floors, are found on this main floor, including four designed or personalized by Coppola and his family: Sofia’s fresco-filled fantasy, Gia’s playful pink palace, Roman’s sleek art deco retreat, and Francis’s Moroccan-inspired suite.
We check into Room Six, which exudes old-world elegance: expansive and airy, with striped walls, hand-painted tiles, soaring ceilings, a Juliet balcony, and a stunning marble bathroom complete with a clawfoot tub. Just outside our room is a wooden marble counter bar that Coppola picked up in Paris, installed on the piano nobile, and stocked with his favorite regional wines. On the other side of our room is the grand salon, a living space with a state-of-the-art video projector and a film library with 300 Italian art house titles, curated by Coppola himself.
I ask Rosella during my stay what Francis finds so moving about Bernalda. Later, she comes back to me letting me know he had emailed her the answer. “‘Lucania,’ as my grandfather Agostino Coppola used to say, ‘my ancient land, Bernalda Bella!'—His voice still follows me throughout my life. In Metaponto, where the great thinker Pythagoras once taught, and in Taranto, whose storied past is inseparable from Magna Graecia, the echoes of ancient Greek still live. How magical is this heritage that I hold so dear, a timeless legacy unfolding in every stone.”
Day 3: Archaeological parks near Bernalda
Distance: 10 miles driving (15 minutes)
Just a 15-minute drive from Bernalda lies some of Magna Grecia’s most breathtaking—and often overlooked—archaeological treasures. The majestic Temple of Hera at the Tavole Palatine, where we find ourselves belting out “Zero to Hero,” is a satellite to the expansive archaeological park of Metapontum. Founded in the late 7th century BC by Greek settlers from the Peloponnese, Metaponto reached its intellectual peak in the 6th century when none other than Pythagoras spent his final years here. We wander through the ancient city’s core, past the remnants of grand temples and the Ekklesiasterion, a public meeting space that later transformed into a theater. Beyond the city lies something even rarer: the chora, an intricately planned grid of agricultural plots, considered the best-preserved example of ancient Greek land division in the world. I love how isolated this park is; it’s that much easier to take in the power of an ancient temple where Greek and Lucanian cultures once collided.
We continue on to the Parco Archeologico di Herakleia, a once-thriving acropolis just inland from the beaches of Policoro. Founded in the 5th century BCE by settlers from Taranto and Thurii, Herakleia was strategically set on a hillside, offering a commanding view of the surrounding coast and fertile plains. Wandering through the remains of the ancient streets, we glimpse traces of shops and homes and admire rare Hellenistic mosaics. Just nearby, the Museo Nazionale della Siritide offers a deeper dive; its remarkable collection spans from the Bronze Age to late antiquity, revealing the layered history of the region long before the Greeks arrived, including the Indigenous Lucanian population.
The pool at Masseria Torre Maizza
Mauro Galligani
July is too hot for Palazzo Margherita’s legendary garden grigliata, a lavish weekly grill fest held in the courtyard, but we still eat well during our entire stay. One evening, we gather in the stunning kitchen—designed by Grange—to learn how to make and then eat strasciatelli, hand-pulled pasta tossed with sautéed tomatoes and shards of provola. On another night under the stars, we enjoy burrata followed by a risotto with cruschi.
After two days of exploring, we backtrack northeast, laughing the whole way at how deeply ancient Greek culture still pulses through southern Italy. Back in Bernalda, we’ve just met an Achille, a Paride (Paris), an Ettore (Hector), and a Gaia (Italian twists on mythic Greek names), all while café hopping on Corso Umberto. We pass a Hermes pizza bar, a Venere hair salon, an Aphrodite beauty studio, and an Ares coffee shop—more references to ancient Greece. It seems less like a road trip, more like driving through a live-action Percy Jackson novel.
Day 4: Bernalda to Savelletri
Distance: 69 miles (1.5 hours driving)
Our route leads us to the Adriatic coast, and we stop in Savelletri, a small beach town nestled between Brindisi and Bari. At first glance, it’s all classic seaside vibes: low-rise apartments on one side of the main road, beach clubs, and seafood spots on the other. But we aren’t here to lounge; we are here to step back in time. Right at the edge of the water, a massive wall rises more than 20 feet tall. Stretching nearly a mile, the wall was once the fortification of a powerful Messapian city, dating to the 4th century BC. By the 3rd century BC, the Romans had taken over, expanding the city and extending the Via Appia straight through it—a road you can still trace today as it cuts through Egnazia, Puglia’s biggest archaeological park, which has just redesigned and reopened its museum.
Egnazia, Puglia’s biggest archaeological park, sits next to the Adriatic.
Darius Arya
Tucked just outside the towering 4th-century BCE Messapian walls, the museum is like a backstage pass to ancient Gnathia, showcasing more than 3,000 artifacts from warrior tombs and early Christian bling. We peek into monumental chamber tombs, then walk the Via Traiana (yes, a real ancient Roman road), getting an idea of how the inhabitants lived, worked, and worshiped.
“The Via Appia Traiana ran right through here, and you can still trace its path through the site,” says Darius. I remark that it’s wild to see people swimming and sipping spritzes under umbrellas at the edge of a beach club nearby, a few steps away from thousands of years of history.
The Romans didn’t stop at roads; they rebuilt Egnazia’s harbor using their revolutionary concrete engineering. Today, the remnants of this ancient port still rest just beneath the surface, less than 160 feet offshore. We strap on snorkels and explore the submerged structures firsthand and bake in the sun. That evening, we head to supper at Osteria del Porto, a tiny sea-facing restaurant where it’s all about the catch of the day—for us that means a raw fish platter and spaghetti with sea urchin.
We wind our way through the olive groves, we follow a narrow country road to Masseria Torre Maizza, set within a renovated 16th-century masseria (farmhouse) and surrounded by olive trees and a tucked-away golf course. Part of the luxury hospitality group Rocco Forte Hotels, Torre Maizza is pure countryside escape: The 40 whitewashed rooms and suites were designed by British interiors maven Olga Polizzi, who takes care to bring in pieces of traditional Pugliese craft.
The retreat’s charm is rustic yet elegant, with Trani stone bathrooms, crisp linens, and leafy patterns echoing the surrounding countryside. There’s a gorgeous wisteria-lined pool, two restaurants focused on hyperlocal ingredients, and Bambu beach club (on the water’s edge) is a 10-minute drive away. Deluxe Suites have plunge pools, but we opted for a Deluxe Room with a private garden terrace, the optimal place to exhale after four full days of archaeological exploring: peaceful, sun-drenched, and just the right dose of indulgence before the next day’s journey back home.
Palazzo Margherita from $1,940, two-night minimum; Masseria Torre Maizza from $1,390
