We left the villa just after 7am this morning as it is about 2hrs 50mins north of where we are staying and in Basilicata (rather than Puglia). Matera is one of the oldest continually lived-in cities in the world dating back to the Palaeolithic Period (10th millennium BC).
Matera is famous for its “Sassi” which are cave dwellings carved into the limestone on the edge of the ravine. It was known as Italy’s shame until the 1950’s due to it’s extreme poverty, malaria and poor living conditions with people living alongside their animals in the caves. During the 1950’s and later, the people were all relocated from the caves to a new area and over time the caves have transitioned to shops, cave hotels and restaurants.
It has also featured in a number of films including James Bond, No Time To Die, where there is a car chase scene through the old town.
https://youtu.be/fJzRn3mwbpU?si=j9q_Ah9KIr4LVAYb
Upon arrival into Matera, we found a park and walked up into the “Sassi di Matera” (the old town). There are lots of archways, stairsways, dead ends and cobbled streets. We walked up to the Matera Duomo (Santa Maria Della Bruna Cathedral) which is at the highest point of the city. It was built in the 13th Century with a simple Romanesque exterior. The interior is Baroque style with lots of gold. They have recently completed a 10 year renovation of the cathedral. We took a look through its museum, the chapels, an amazing nativity and the cathedral itself.
There are great views over the Sasso Barisano (the old city is separated into two Sassi (Barisano and Caveoso)) from the Piazza Duomo. We had bought a ticket package at the Duomo so headed to the next place on our ticket which was the Antica Casa Grotto in the Sasso Barisano.
The Antica Casa Grotto is a cave dwelling and depicts what life in a cave was like until the 1960’s. It was furnished with original furnishings of the time. The one we saw had three rooms, a bedroom for 5 people (including the toilet), a kitchen and an area for the animals. The need to collect rainwater led them to create a series of interconnected cisterns within the intricate labyrinth of dwellings, each dug out of the limestone rock by hand. A complex system of well-designed canals and slopes allowed the house’s cisterns to be filled without wasting water: once the maximum capacity of the cisterns had been reached on the upper levels, the overflow would then pass into the cisterns of the houses on the lower levels.
We went to a museum dedicated to the festival of the brunette (the “Festa Della Bruna”), namely the festival to celebrate the Madonna of the Brunette, the protector of Matera. It is a multimedia experience through the legends and experiences of the feast including a real full size triumphal chariot. This paternal feast dedicated to her has been celebrated on 2 July for more than 600 years when the feast of the Visitation was established by the then Pope. There are many legends surrounding the festival but today the celebration starts with a mass and a procession through the city carrying a picture of the Virgin Mary. Later a statue of her is placed on a triumphant chariot made almost entirely from paper mache and paraded through the town until it is eventually destroyed by the towns people.
The San Pietro Barisano, the largest rock church in Matera and dates back to the 12th century was next on our itinerary. There were great views from outside the main entrance of Matera and the various levels.
We walked around to the Sasso Caveoso down via Domenico Ridola with views up to the Sassi and across the ravine to the caves of the early inhabitants of Matera.
We ended up at the Santa Maria de Idris Church which sits on a cliffside. There are more amazing views from the outside and the remains of some frescoes inside (although we couldn’t take pictures of these).
We wandered back up towards the duomo to find some lunch and stopped for a break in the Piazza del Sedile outside the Palasso del Sedile. We took a peek inside the Chiesa di San Francisco d’Assisi but there was a wedding taking place so we couldn’t see a lot.
We went to Zio Nino for a lunch of panini’s, meats and salad. The bread was pretty hard on the panini’s (especially difficult for TJ to manage with his braces) but the meats and salads were delicious. Luckily across the street was a highly rated gelato store, Cremes Bureau, which just opened so it seemed rude not to at least give it a go. Yum!
We walked back to the car, figured out how to make payment and drove home via the supermarket for supplies, followed by some time on the sun and table tennis.
