Antico Pastificio Sarubbi is a welcoming hotel that emerges with its five floors above the village of Stigliano at almost 1000 meters high. The town, not far from Matera, is historically famous for having given refuge to the brigand Carmine Crocco after a clash with the royal army and also for having been a place of confinement for dissident fascists.
From former mill to factory now it’s a hotel
But Stigliano has a long history also with regard to the tradition of pasta, so much so that in documents dating back to 1815, the presence of the “school of maccaronieri” is indicated. After all, there was no lack of raw materials: wheat, mills and streams. The first pasta factories originated from this tradition, including that of the Sarubbi family.
The history of the industrial factory, now a hotel, is also fascinating, in which durum wheat pasta was produced until the 1950s. In turn, built on an ancient mill, where all the farmers of the town gathered to thresh wheat during the harvest, the factory was born from the architects’ project of the Adriano Olivetti school and produced high quality pasta, even exported to United States of America, closing its doors in the 70s due to family disagreements.
After 30 years, a nephew wanted to give the structure a second life, transforming it into a place open to hospitality but without altering its external appearance, while for the interiors neutral tones and furnishings were chosen that connect to the colors of the local stone and the surrounding landscape.
Since 2019, Hotel Antico Pastificio Sarubbi has been managed by a company whose sole director is Adriana Domeniconi, a Roman lady in love with this land, so much so that she has made it her home and the center of her work interests. In addition, her son Daniele Di Calisto wanted to resume the processing of pasta with the grains of the Stiglianese area in the artisan workshop next to the hotel with “L’Antico Opificio della Pasta” brand: what is it like? Very good, like the bread bought in a shop in the village, which is part of our exquisite souvenirs to take home.
But let’s go in order. Once you cross the threshold and enter the hall, you will immediately notice the gears that were used for the production of semolina and which have been preserved together with the original façade of the mill, recovered with the rooms intended for the grain storage and the silos, transformed into the reception room and in “L’Antico Pastificio della Pasta” restaurant, as well as pieces of furniture originating from the 1950s, such as the counter or the still fully functional refrigerator in the reception.
The accommodation is divided into five levels: on the garden level there are hall, restaurant, banquet hall called “Il Granaio” and “Fusilli Café” bar, where we were welcomed by Daniele with a rich and delicious aperitif.
The large rooms and spaces such as the Fit Life gym and the La Perla della Bellezza beauty center are located on the upper floors.
Lunches and dinners are prepared by chef Teresa who expertly mixes local flavors, including pistachios from Stigliano and cruschi peppers from Senise, with refined suggestions and well presented on tables set in an impeccable way and with great elegance.
There is no shortage of Lucanian cold cuts and cheeses, but you must absolutely taste the pasta produced in the rooms next to the hotel with original machinery, based on ancient recipes of the Stiglianese pasta masters and with local grains, in particular with the semolina of the famous Molino Careccia.
The idea of returning to producing pasta came to Daniele, a young ecclesiastical lawyer, to create an even stronger bond with the land in which his mother, together with partners Nicola Lista and Giuseppe Crescente, invested. And not only in the management of the Antico Pastificio Sarubbi hotel in Stigliano but also in the management of the Pietrasasso Refuge, in the locality of the same name in the Pollino National Park.
The refuge is located in the area that extends between the municipalities of Terranova di Pollino and San Costantino Albanese, recognized as a geosite, that is, a piece of territory with uniqueness and interest both from a geological and landscape point of view.
This is immediately realized by arriving in Pietrasasso where the Timpa of the same name is the result of the last glaciation activity in the area. We are located at an altitude of 1362 meters above sea level and the Pietrasasso monolith is the testimony of the release, 130 million years ago, of large quantities of lava coming from the ocean floor and transported upwards following the tectonic upheavals, which caused the closure of the ocean of Tethys.
The volcanic rocks compacted in conditions of low temperature and pressure have become, after millions of years, ophiolites, or serpentines, that is, black-greenish rocks, protagonists of the landscape together with specimens of Holly that reach 8-10 meters in height and herds of “Podolica” cows, a large, long-horned bovine.
At the refuge it is possible to stop for lunch and dinner, as Nicola points out by eating “what is there”, but we assure you that you will not regret it as it is always very good and tasty. There are 7 rooms that welcome those who decide to stay to enjoy the fresh air and magnificent views overlooking the plain between Terranova del Pollino and San Costantino Albanese.
Hotel Antico Pastificio Sarubbi
Via Roma, 107 – Stigliano (Matera)
Info: +39 0835 565663
www.anticopastificiosarubbi.it – info@anticopastificiosarubbi.it
Rifugio Pietrasasso
Località Pietrasasso Terranova del Pollino (Potenza)
