Those who visit Matera with a tour guide will surely learn that, at a certain point in the long and complex history of this city (precisely in 1952), the inhabitants of the Sassi were forced to abandon their homes, many of which dug into the rock. They were unhealthy, damp dwellings, with no sewage system, water supply and electricity.
Living conditions of extreme poverty, now inconceivable for a nation devoted to post-war reconstruction and economic development.
With the Special Law n. 619, the Sassi of Matera were thus displaced.
For more than 2/3 of the local population, this meant moving to popular neighborhoods and modern rural villages, designed by important architects; places conceived with particular attention to the needs of a community that has been carrying on its shoulders, for generations, a sense of community to be preserved at all costs.
One of those rural villages designed to welcome the inhabitants of the Sassi was La Martella.
In this article we accompany you to discover this village a few kilometers from Matera, which was the paradigm of a new urban perspective.