Museo del Lupo

The Museo del Lupo stands in a beech wood at Fontana dei Pastori on Montagna Grande, in Viggiano. Its displays include preserved wolves and other wildlife of the Lucanian Apennines, connecting an environmental education centre with the mountain landscape around it.

Why it matters

The museum is devoted to the Apennine wolf and is listed among the environmental education and sustainability centres serving the Parco Nazionale dell’Appennino Lucano Val d’Agri–Lagonegrese. The regional tourism authority describes it as the first museum in Basilicata dedicated to the wolf. It opened in 2000 and was established as a setting for learning about wildlife and the surrounding environment.

What to notice

Preserved wolf specimens form the central display. The collection also includes examples of other local wildlife, including the golden eagle, badger, otter and fox. Audiovisual materials and a thematic bibliography extend the museum’s interpretation of the wolf and its habitat. Outside, the surrounding beech forest places the subject within the upland landscape of Montagna Grande.

Context and history

The museum is located at about 1,400 metres above sea level in the beech woods of Montagna Grande. Its environmental-education role reflects the park’s broader CEAS network, created to support learning about sustainability and the local environment. The park’s account of traditional mountain livelihoods also records the figure of the incantatore di lupi, or wolf-charmer, while describing it as part of popular imagination and local memory.