Matera

Are you eager to have incredible experiences that literally strike you ? Matera is your target in Italy ! This city is located in Basilicata region, and until few years ago people who lived there were very very poor and in miserable conditions.

During the ancient periods, the rocky area where Matera grew up had been occupied by a lot of populations from Greeks, Romans to Byzantines, Saracens and over the centuries the citizens carved out their houses from the vertical walls of territory like caves called Sassi di Matera (Matera’s stones).

The life in Sassi di Matera had been always very miserable and during 1800s it became unbelievable with incredible sanitation conditions, absolute poverty and severe diseases.

In 1952 the local government decided to start the evacuation of Sassi di Matera and relocate the population in modern housing (new Matera). The rocky part of Matera was abandoned until the 1980s, then with the help of UNESCO and Italian government, new redevelopment projects for Sassi area began.

The Matera’s citizens has been able to redeem their misery condition, and now Sassi is an unbelievable zone that must be visited for a unique experience where also to know and understand the ancient and hard history of this people.

Sassi di Matera have been restored and embellished also with museums, hotels and fantastic restaurants where people can have dinner in an unbelievable environment !

The best way to discover the ancient area of Matera is by foot or by Ape Car (an incredible Italian three wheeled and small vehicle). Narrow alleys and hundreds of stones stairs will show you typical constructions dug into the rock of Murgia, historical and archaeological zone of Matera inhabited since prehistoric times. These unbelievable neighbourhoods are called Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano and are nowadays considered UNESCO heritage. Inside the park also don’t miss the Rupestrian Churches carved into the rock of hills and overhangs.