Maierà historic centre

Maierà’s historic centre lies at 360 metres, on the left flank of the Vaccuta stream valley, inside the Pollino National Park. From the village you look straight across to Grisolia, perched on the hill opposite: between the two lies a deep ravine, even though as the crow flies they are barely 900 metres apart. Walking the narrow lanes means meeting, at every turn, contemporary artworks by different artists, placed along the alleys to set the village’s memory in dialogue with the present. The centre is also home to the Chilli Pepper Museum (Museo del Peperoncino), which displays varieties of the spice from every part of the world together with objects linked to the “red gold”. There are four churches: Santa Maria del Piano, Santa Maria del Casale, San Pietro and the Madonna del Carmine, dedicated to the village’s patron, celebrated on 16 July. According to one hypothesis, the very name of the village recalls the area’s caves, from the Hebrew mə‘ārāh; another links it to the Greek machairas, “cutler”.