Rural landscape

The landscape changes color with every season, reflecting the area's strong agricultural and cereal-growing vocation.

Fornacelle

The fornacelle — called furnedd' or furnacell' in the local dialect — are the old and characteristic rural kitchens of Oscata, still exuding the aromas of the past.

Rural fountains

According to some, the name Oscata derives from the Oscan word “AUS-CLATA”, meaning a place rich in water, and the fountains are a testament to this. Do you know how many there are?

Community oven

The community oven used by Oscata inVita is an ancient ruin, restored and reactivated by the association.

Community vegetable garden

Oscata inVita has established a vegetable garden serving the community, where produce for food events is grown and adults and children can participate in planting and harvesting for educational and demonstrative purposes.

Art gallery

From an old, fully restored stable, an exhibition space has been created by the versatile owner and artist, dedicated to a permanent display of "arte povera" (poor art).

Community workshop

The community workshop is the place dedicated to the processing and preservation of food and garden products, as well as the management of kitchen and garden equipment.

Cheesemaker's cellar

The farm Le Ferregne has been aging its cheeses for more than a century in an old rural cellar.

Michele Panno's house

A rustic dwelling full of storytelling where the story of Michele Panno, the peasant poet who recounted his childhood in the village of Oscata in an identity-defining book, takes place.

Cellar re lu miero

Wine, called "miero" in the local dialect, was an essential product for the Rural Kitchens of Alta Irpinia. Every family had a vineyard because "those who hoe drink water, and those who prune drink wine".

Shepherd's house

The shepherd's house or the landowner's house?

Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The rural church, the ecclesia of the small polis of Oscata.

Rural architecture

Dovecotes, chicken coops, pigsties, stables, apiaries, threshing floors, and community ovens represent the extension of the Rural Kitchens of Alta Irpinia, making the village of Oscata a widespread ecomuseum.

Cereal production

The territory's vocation for cereal cultivation is deeply tied to wheat and grain, along with many rituals and traditions masterfully narrated by Pietro De Carlo in "C'ero una volta al mio paese".

Bread rituals

The community ovens were the main tool of a production process that involved the entire village of the Rural Kitchens, as recounted by Libero Frascione.

Life in front of fornacelle

The fornacella was the heart of the rural home. Here is a story by Michele Panno about the typical Apennine rural kitchen, taken from the book "Infanzia del Borgo".

Grape harvest and crushing

The grape processing is described by Michele Panno in "La vendemmia", from the book "Infanzia del Borgo".

Cheese production

Michele Panno, in "La masciottola" from the book "Infanzia del Borgo", explains the collective process of cheese making.

Local crafts

The itinerant artisans who stopped in Oscata, as recounted by Bice Lapenna in "Il matrimonio", from the book "La ragazza di Pietra Durante".

Bisaccese dialect and nicknames

The Bisaccese dialect is very close to Apulian, but it preserves anecdotes, proverbs, and nicknames strongly linked to rural life.

Trekking in Oscata

The Oscata trails, mapped by local residents, highlight the landscape features, history, and potential of the territory.

Literary trails

Discover the village of storytelling houses with local tales accessible via the Loquis app.

Food and wine traditions

The Rural Kitchens of Oscata come alive during events dedicated to the ancient recipes and traditions of the Alta Irpinia culture.

Literary meetings

Oscata is the "village of storytelling houses", a place of inspiration where many residents have written autobiographies and memoirs that Oscata inVita preserves and celebrates through storytelling.

Workshops

The great distances from nearby towns have encouraged the local development of artisanal and manual skills, which Oscata inVita enhances by organizing hands-on experiential workshops.

Harvest

2025

Threshing told

2025

Oscata bakes

2025

Oscata meets Ruralis

2025

Ceramics workshop

2025

• 2025 - Antonio La Penna's childhood
• 2025 - Once upon a time there was the harvest
• 2025 - Village festival
• 2025 - Grazing with the cheesemaker
• 2024 - Threshing told
• More events

Books

By purchasing one of the ethnographic books dedicated to Oscata — discovering our history as told by local authors — you help support the restoration initiatives of the Ecomuseum.