Given the clayey Pleistocene bedrock, in a wide area across the Potenza and Matera Provinces developed a typical badland landscape created by the age-old surface run off. The badlands, "calanchi", in Italian, characterize the rough landscape of south-eastern Basilicata. The charm of this scenery has been described by Carlo Levi in its novel "Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli" (Christ Stopped at Eboli), published in 1945. A regional park has been established to protect and preserve the wild beauty of this area.