Matera Top 10

The “Sassi” (literally: “stones”) are probably the first thing you think about when we talk about Matera. These are in the centro storico of the city, and in a particular tangle of alleys, churches and ancient houses, these quarters cherish the traces of the past and of the events that took place in this city. This huge sculpture, preserved from the Palaeolithic to nowadays, shows the way of life in the caves. At the same time near this historical mark of the Palaeolithic there are more modern houses. We know that every age of the human history had its housing, here in Matera is possible to retrace this evolution.
Moreover this city testify how men can exploit nature without damage it. Today Matera’s sassi are in the Unesco’s World Heritage List, as “cultural site”.

On the top of the hill of the city there’s the Cathdral which offers an amazing view of the “sasso Barisano”. This church is dated back at the XIII century and rose on the remains of an older church: Sant’Eustachio. The exterior presents a rose window with 16 small columns, and the bell tower it’s in Apulian-Romanesque style; the interior is composed of a nave and two aisles, with a Latin cross plan, and houses exemplar works of baroque art. The famed stone crèche, made in 1534 by Altobello Persio, is in the Basilica, where you can also see: the sarcophagus which contains the mortal remains of San Giovanni in Matera, a XIII century Byzantine fresco representing The Virgin with Child, a wooden choir in the apse and a fresco of the Last Judgement, that has just recently been restored. The Cathedral is dedicated to the Madonna della Bruna, that is Matera’s Saint Patron and is celebrated on 2nd July.

How to get here: by the city bus which arrive in Piazza del Duomo, where the Cathedral is.

The nature reserves, the parks and the protected oasis which characterized all Basilicata territory are an interesting meeting between nature and culture. In here there are rare faunistic and floristic species, and important archaeological finds too. The “Parco della Murgia”, The “Riserva Regionale San Giuliano” and the Colle Timmari, are natural areas that you can visit in Matera. In the plateau of the Murgia the remains of ancient neolithic villages rose. The zone of San Giuliano Lake is known for its protected area for wildlife and birds. There are almost 140 species of different birds. Needless to say that it’s a real bird watching paradise. The colle Timmari is a little residential locality which dominate the lake of San Giuliano and it’s an important archaeological area. It keeps the remaining of prehistoric age and of the IV century BC.

The first rupestrian churches date back to the High Middle Ages, when the monasticism become popular in the catholic community of that age. These places of worship are dig into the tuff rock and they are a distinctive tract of all Matera’s territory: crypt, hermitage, basilicas and monastery are scattered all around the urban fabric of the Sassi, throughout the precipices or on the Murgia plateau. The churches dig into the rock with their architectural virtuosity and their frescos are exceptional works of art and examples of negative architecture, at which the local residents were perfectly accustomed seeing that even the houses were built in the same way. In a heterogeneous and harmonic group, in which Orthodox churches are placed side by side with Catholic churches, these buildings testify the development and the cultural level reached by these communities. Santa Lucia e Agata delle Malve, Santa Maria de Idris and Santa Barbara are just some of the about 150 rupestrian churches built in all Matera’s territory.

The cave-house of Vico solitario it’s the only opportunity you have to understand how was the life in these houses dig into the rock. These houses were evacuated in the 50’s under order of the Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi who begin a recovery plan of the area. A huge rocky cavity is the entrance of the house, where there are reproduced all the objects, the working tools and the furnitures. You’ll make a voyage back in time looking at the little table, with at its centre a plate, indeed at that time people ate from the same plate; the mattress made of corn shucks; the little stable where once there was a mule. This house-cave today is a little museum thank to the G.T.M. (Gruppo Teatro Matera, a cultural association) that takes care of this place.

When: every day from 9,30 am to the evening. Tickets: 1,50 € Info and reservations: Tel/Fax: +39 0835 310118

Because of its particular landscape Matera has been the perfect backdrop for many movies from the 50’s to nowadays. The dry and rocky sweeps of the city has always been the perfect setting to Biblical movies: Matera and its glimpses has become the place where Jesus Christ was born and lived. One of the first director who noticed the potential of this territory was Pier Paolo Pasolini, he made his movie “Vangelo secondo Matteo” (1964 – The gospel according to saint Matthew) in Matera, in particular in the Sassi area and in Gravine. Bruce Beresford too made his King David (1985) here, up to Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” (2004). Gibson said that he had never seen Pasolini’s movie, but he returned on the same places where the Italian director set his movie (Porta Pistola, Murgia and Gravina). The fame of Matera as ideal place to transpose the facts of 2000 years ago, has given a strong impulse to the tourism too. Every year numerous tourist go visit the open set of art film.

The proximity between Basilicata and Puglia make the costumes, traditions and the gastronomy of these two Italian regions very similar. Matera’s food has a lot of dishes in common with Puglia, for example the “orecchiette” (literally, “little ears”, it’s a kind of pasta) seasoned with tomato sauce, cabbage, turnip tops, soft part of the bread and raisins. From the 15th August in Matera people uses to prepare the “cotto di fichi” (literally: cooked figs): a sweet sauce like a jam, that can be done only when the fig are well ripened. An other typical product of this zone is the mushroom “cardoncello”, it can be eaten raw with ricotta, lemons and olive oil, or cooked in different ways. A lot of typical dishes are cooked in occasion of the religious events: on Easter Monday, for example, it is custom to cook cardoon with cheese and eggs, and pastries with fig and honey. Needless to say that the local gastronomy is tightly connected with the peasant and pastoral tradition; While, if you prefer seafood we suggest you to move to Metaponto’s zone.

Shopping in Matera doesn’t deceive: from the shopping centre to haute couture boutiques you’ll find the best that the market has to offer. But if you’re looking for the typical production you’ll have to go in the workshops, where you’ll have the possibility to bring home with you a little piece of Matera’s tradition. If you prefer foodstuffs you can buy salami, meat and cheese, and good wine too. The workshops has a large production of paper pulp, wrought iron, earthenware and tuff.
We want to recommend you two markets: the “exchange market” (it take place every second week end of every month in Piazza Vittorio Veneto) where you can find antique objects, local artworks, bijoux and laces; and the merchandise market (in Rione San Giacomo) where every Saturday tourists and city dwellers can buy gastronomical products, artworks and dresses surrounded by a bright atmosphere.

Matera isn’t only “sassi”, artworks, museums and historical places, but even fun and entertainment. Here you can practice a lot of sports during the morning hours and make your cultural tours. But the day doesn’t end when the sun go down. The principal meeting point is Piazza Vittorio Veneto in the middle of the centro storico. From the early hours of the evening the square is full of young people who meet to have an aperitif or just to have a walk. From here the nigh can continue in one of the clubs of the city, you just have to choose. For the ones who prefer a calm night there’s the possibility to spend the time at the cinema, theatre or in a restaurant. Here you can find all the solution according to your needs.

The accommodation in Matera is really various and the city is suitable to host tourists in every part of the year. As in most of the cities that has a big tourist stream you can find different typologies of structures that meet the needs of everyone.
Some structures can be find in the heart of the city, in the area of the sassi, it’s obvious that there you’ll have the possibility to live the magic of these historical beauties, but it’s also clear that it will be expensive. So if you decide for a cheaper holiday choose a B&B or an Hotel a little far from the centre of the city. If you want to immerse yourself in the nature (and preferably, if you have a car) in the surrounding of Matera there are a lot of country houses which rent little furnished flat or rooms (and often has very beautiful and good restaurants too).