Potenza

Among Italy's cheapest regional capitals for housing; eating out and groceries are cheap. Heating for six months a year and the car, needed to move outside the centre and around the region, weigh instead. Coworking and services are limited.

A historic centre with old, cheap but inconvenient houses; Santa Maria, Poggio Tre Galli and Verderuolo for families; Macchia Romana for students and hospital staff. A small market, mostly owner-occupied. Public housing run by ATER Potenza; university residences through ARDSU Basilicata.

Registry and ID card at the Comune, by appointment. Waste with ACTA: separated collection with calendars by area (urban, historic centre, industrial, outer area) and a collection centre; door-to-door being extended. Drinkable water from Acquedotto Lucano. National and Provincial libraries, local markets.

To enter with a dog, cat or ferret you need a microchip, an EU pet passport or health certificate and a valid rabies vaccination. Mandatory registration in the regional pet register, lead at all times and a muzzle to hand. Pets allowed on trains under Trenitalia rules and in apartment buildings by law.

Rules depend on who is arriving: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens (no visa, registration with the Comune after three months), non-EU citizens for stays up to 90 days (Schengen rule, type C visa where required) and for long stays (national type D visa and a residence permit within eight working days of arrival).

City buses run by Trotta Mobility and a 1.3 km system of public escalators, the longest in Europe according to the national tourism agency, linking the lower districts with the centre. Trenitalia trains to Salerno-Naples and Taranto; the line to Melfi and Foggia has had RFI works in 2024–2026; Ferrovie Appulo Lucane to Bari. No airport in the region: Naples, Bari or Salerno.

Euro, cards accepted almost everywhere, a legal cash limit. Anyone living in Italy for most of the year is tax resident and taxed on worldwide income under three IRPEF brackets; specific regimes exist for the self-employed (forfettario), inbound workers, foreign pensioners and new residents. Contributions go to INPS; annual return with the 730 or Redditi form.

Potenza hosts the headquarters of ASP Basilicata (via Torraca 2) and belongs to Health District 3 Potenza-Alto Basento. The San Carlo hospital, in contrada Macchia Romana, is a level-II emergency hospital (DEA). Out-of-hours doctors in every municipality of the ASP; bookings on the regional toll-free number 800 814814.

Non-EU pensioners enter with the elective residence visa, EU pensioners through free movement; public healthcare is accessible by compulsory or voluntary registration. Optional 7% regime on foreign income for those moving to small southern municipalities. Cheap houses in villages, services concentrated in cities.

An economy of public employment, health care and university; within an hour the Stellantis plant at Melfi with its supply chain and the Val d'Agri oil, which funds royalties and regional measures. Few large private employers in the city; coworking almost absent. ZES unica for investors.

A VAT number (partita IVA) from the Agenzia delle Entrate for freelancers; for businesses the Comunicazione Unica to the Registro delle Imprese, which also notifies the Agenzia, INPS, INAIL and SUAP. Main forms: sole proprietorship, SNC/SAS, SRL and SRLS, SPA. Compulsory PEC, annual chamber fee, e-invoicing. Invitalia incentives; non-EU citizens need a self-employment permit or the investor visa.

The University of Basilicata, founded in 1982 after the earthquake, has in Potenza the Macchia Romana campus, with all departments and the rectorate, and the Francioso hub in Via Nazario Sauro; another campus is in Matera. Student support through ARDSU Basilicata.

Seat of the Basilicata Region and of the Province of Potenza. The city dialect has Gallo-Italic traits; recognised Arbëreshë communities live in the province. Patron Saint Gerard della Porta, feast on 30 May with the Parade of the Turks on the evening of the 29th.

Temperate mountain climate: cold snowy winters, pleasant summers with cool nights, rain and fog from autumn to spring. High seismic risk (earthquakes of 1857 and 1980). Good air for most of the year, with some PM10 exceedances in the heating months.

Not a tourist city but a good base: Via Pretoria, the Cathedral of San Gerardo, Torre Guevara, the National Archaeological Museum and the Musmeci Bridge. Day trips to Matera (UNESCO), the Lucanian Dolomites with the Volo dell'Angelo, the Vulture with Melfi and Venosa, Maratea on the Tyrrhenian. Late May for Saint Gerard.

Peperoni cruschi, lagane e ceci, strascinati, salt cod, podolico caciocavallo and Aglianico del Vulture. Montereale and Baden Powell parks, the Basento river park, skiing at Sellata-Pierfaone in winter. Teatro Stabile and football at the Viviani; evenings along Via Pretoria.