The Lucanian Ionian landscape (XVIIIth-XIXth century)

The Lucanian Ionian coast represents an interesting case of transformation of the agrarian landscape affected by Greek colonisation, followed by the Roman conquest, then the monastic communities of the Middle Ages, and finally threatened by the Saracen invasions. In the eighteenth century the area was divided into an internal hilly area in which the characteristic landscape was dominated by grassland and cereal crops, and near the cities vineyards, olive groves, orchards and woods prevailed. On the plains towards the coast, in the many water basins, cereals with vineyards and olive groves grew abundantly along with the century-old lush forest of Policoro; there were no cities but only a few settlements. The classic Mediterranean landscape of the area also saw the presence of the intensive cultivation of 'cotton wool' as well as the cultivation of liquorice plants along the fertile half moon until 1870. The rivers reshaped the landscape, especially on the plains, and formed marshes, whereas men modified the area with the usurpation of the state-owned allotments and by logging near the cities. The human presence in the area, in contrast to the region as a whole, shows a steady increase in numbers from the eighteenth century with the formation of the two new centres in the twentieth century. The process of modernisation by the middle of the nineteenth century saw a transformation phase in the agrarian landscape through the allotments and the end of feudalism, while in the landscape in the whole area, new elements and components appeared such as roads, railways, telegraph poles and cables.