Discover Matera, the Cave City in Southern Italy.
Matera is a city in the region of Basilicata in Southern Italy, with great history and a bright future. Matera is uniquely built on a rocky outcrop, with cave dwellings carved into the mountainside forming the old town, the so-called Sassi district.
Matera was considered “the shame of Italy” in the 1950s because of the extremely poor living conditions, and widespread disease that prevailed in the Sassi. The old area was evacuated in 1952 and the population was relocated to modern housing. The Sassi remained abandoned until the 1980s when a new vision and investments have given to locals incentives to return and give life to the Sassi.
WHY TO VISIT MATERA
Over the last 50 years, Matera has managed to transform itself from being the slumdog and the “shame of Italy” to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the European Capital of Culture in 2019. The Sassi brims with intense history, rich culture, untouched by the time architecture, breathtaking scenery, and award-winning gastronomy, making Matera one of the most sophisticated travel destinations in Southern Italy, still under the radar of massive tourism. Recently, even James Bond paid a visit here.
Matera’s architecture is so spectacular and unique that astonishes even the most aesthete visitor. Originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, the Sassi is made up of white stone caves on the steep slopes of a deep valley. Nicknamed by film directors as the little Jerusalem, the old town’s architecture has inspired many of them to shoot here. From Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ” to the recent film of James Bond, Matera welcomed around 140 Italian and international productions over the last 5 years. Staying in the city is indeed like living on a film set.
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Arrivederci!
– Yemenaris.
