Top 16 Caves サンテーラモインコッレでの

The southern Italian city of Matera is impressive and attractive, but at the same time also mysterious and a bit rough. It looks more like a labyrinth of stone houses, steep staircases and narrow streets. The Sassi di Matera, or Stones of Matera, is full of caves that were once inhabited and were therefore a disgrace to Italy. Times have changed suddenly, and today the Sassi di Matera are the pride not only of the city, but also of the entire Basilicata region, in which Matera is located.

Matera is an Italian city in the Basilicata region, the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on the edge of the Murgia plateau. Its surroundings are home to the most important caveman settlements in the Mediterranean region. Since 1993, the "Sassi di Matera" (Stones of Matera), the oldest part of the city, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Metera with its Sassi and rock churches is impressive.

Inserted in the complex agro-pastoral rock village of Tre Ponti, the church was erroneously known until recently, with the name of San Pietro in Principibus. The plan is square with four central pillars and three apses. The façade has collapsed but you can admire the accurate workmanship of the arches, apses and pillars. In the rear room, excavated after the church was abandoned, there are graffiti depicting various figures including doves, quadrupeds and a soldier. To the left of the church, a stone enclosure protects an ancient rock apiary mentioned in two documents from 1536 and 1537 in which the area in question is mentioned: “un apiculare situ in gravina Sancti Elia, iuxta loco dicti Iacobi, et iuxta Ecclesiam di S.Elia ab alio latere” (apiary located in the ravine of Sant’Elia, near the cave of said Iacobo, and near the church of Sant’Elia on the other side). The church of Sant’Elia referred to is in fact located in the caves opposite, beyond the uphill road. Beyond the arched entrance to the church are two arcosolium tombs and various graffito crosses are engraved on the walls. The environment has been extensively remodeled, having inside it a manger and a ceiling drain. Discover our Basilicata by bike on www.viaggiatorelento.com

An excellent, very realistic reconstruction of life inside the cave dwellings of Matera.

Worth the few euros

Be sure to walk down through the valley

Rarely have I seen such a beautifully preserved city