Tenuta Donna Maria is an organic farm with woods and arable crops. We grow and offer our guests organic vegetables and fruits, specialising in the productions of olives, almonds, pomegranate, figs, quinces and various vegetables typical of the area. The entire place is exclusively powered by renewable energy (solar and geothermal). The farm is located at the heart of the San Giuliano natural reserve, a serene and idyllic sanctuary just a few minutes’ drive from Matera. Built in the 1950’s to provide water for farms on the Metaponto plain, it gradually transformed into a natural habitat for dozens of birds and wild animals, as well as rich and diverse vegetation spanning from native to non-native species of plants. All this has created a unique landscape in the Basilicata region, an oasis of peace and wellness just a few kilometres away from Matera, the European Capital of Culture 2019.
From Masseria San Francesco al Bradano to Tenuta Donna Maria
The Masseria of San Francesco al Bradano once stood where the artificial lake of San Giuliano lies now. Founded in the 17th century by Franciscan monks along the Bradano river valley, it was later acquired by my great-great-grandfather Pietro Giura Longo in the second half of the nineteenth century. At that time the Masseria included a much larger territory than the present one. The farm then went to his son, my great-grandfather Tommaso Giura Longo, and from him to my grandfather Pietro. In the 1950s, after the Second World War, the Bradano and Metaponto Consorzio di Bonifica decided to create the artificial lake of the San Giuliano Dam along the River Bradano. It was then that my grandfather Pietro Giura Longo was expropriated much of the land, including the hectares in which the Old Masseria was built, and the Chapel, which had been of the monks of St. Francis.
The present farm, renamed Tenuta Donna Maria, in honor of my grandmother Maria Sarra, wife of Pietro Giura Longo, from whom I myself take my name, was built by my grandfather in the 1950s. It originally included a sheep barn, which is currently the farm center, and a cottage for the homes of workers and laborers with their families, where the guest rooms are currently located. There was also a silo for the conservation of fodder, and a barn for cows and calves, where currently the kitchen and restaurant of the agriturismo are located. The silo has remained as it is, symbol and memory of those times. Finally, the chicken house has been transformed into accommodation for staff, and other warehouses and stores in the yoga/conference room and spa.
The current owner
Maria Giura Longo, Mariella for my friends, it’s me, the current owner. I inherited the farm from my father Raffaele, called Lello. Historian and politician, author of numerous texts on the history of Matera and Basilicata and beyond, he was Associate Professor of History of the Risorgimento at the University of Bari, and a Member of the Italian Parliament from 1976 to 1987. He loved this land and the farm, and although he did not have much time to devote to it, he transmitted that love to me so much that I decided to return to Italy from England, where I was living with my two children, and take care of it after his early death, which occurred in March 2009
In receiving with love and respect this land which has been guarded by the family for four generations, I would like to underline an important discontinuity compared to the past. Not only I am the first woman in the family to run this business, and I have to thank for this the times that have changed. But, and perhaps above all, I am the first of my family to live in the farm and manage it directly, without intermediaries (the so-called ‘massari’ that have so far taken care of the daily running of the company). This is a big challenge for me, and an even bigger satisfaction when I see the results of my work. Even more, it is a dream realized and a passion that I have always had, for nature, for the care of the earth, of the people, and for the well-being of our planet and of all its inhabitants, be they men and women, or animals and plants.