MATERA: THE BEAUTY MADE OF STONE

11 Dec MATERA: THE BEAUTY MADE OF STONE

Have you ever heard of the city of Matera?

Matera is a little town in the Basilicata region in Southern Italy, and it’s a very special place for many reasons: first of all, for its beauty. Matera is astounding to the sight, it’s like a painting from the past.

And when I say past, I really mean it: Matera is the third most ancient city in the World, and it’s inhabited since the Palaeolithic. She tells the history of humanity from ancient caves to rock churches, to the infamous “Sassi” ancient cave dwellings.

Today the old city of Matera with its Sassi are an UNESCO heritage site, but Matera and its beauty hides a painful history.

The Sassi dwellings have been the perfect example of integration between men and the surrounding environment until the 1700. During the troubled ‘900 Matera was going throughout some tough times, and while the rest of Italy was making its way into progress and the future, Matera was lying without electricity, water and in very poor and unhealthy hygienic conditions.

The Sassi became a sort of ghetto, with people forced to live inside their caves with their wide families and even with their animals.

In the 1948 Matera becomes the symbol of disgrace in Italy, and the prime minister De Gasperi forced people to leave their homes in the caves, and relocated them to the new built part of the city.

Today the Sassi have been renovated, and many heirs of the original dwellers could go back to their childhood home.

In fact, Matera is the only city in the World where people can boast to be still living in the same houses of their ancestors of 9,000 years ago!

A more informative post featuring things to do and see in this amazing city will follow, but first I wanted to share with you its history, and some of my favorite pictures of this beauty made of stones!

the view to the “Sassi” from the “Murgia” plateau

isn’t it impressive?

the “Sasso Barisano” neighborhood, the gate to the ancient Sassi dwellings of Matera

the street that takes you from the Sasso Barisano to the Sasso Caveoso, 

the two neighborhoods of Matera
 

inside the “Sasso Caveoso”, beating heart of the ancient city

the panoramic point of Piazzetta Pascoli, don’t miss it at sunset!

The whole tour, that brought us to Bari, Ostuni and Alberobello has been completely organized by Italica Incoming.

I can’t wait to post something about the other destinations as well!