Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights & Activities
There are two
sasso
districts: the more restored, northwest-facing
Sasso Barisano
and the
more impoverished, northeast-facing
Sasso Caveoso
. Both are extraordinary, riddled with
serpentine alleyways and staircases, and dotted with frescoed
chiese rupestri
(cave
churches) created between the 8th and 13th centuries. Today Matera contains some 3000
habitable caves.
The
sassi
are accessible from several points. There's an entrance off Piazza Vittorio
Veneto, or take Via delle Beccherie to Piazza del Duomo and follow the tourist itinerary
signs to enter either Barisano or Caveoso. Sasso Caveoso is also accessible from Via Rid-
ola.
For a great photograph, head out of town for about 3km on the Taranto-Laterza road
and follow signs for the
chiese rupestri
. This takes you up on the Murgia Plateau to the
Belvedere
(Taranto-Laterza Rd)
,
from where you have fantastic views of the plunging ravine
and Matera.
EXPLORING THE GORGE
In the picturesque landscape of the Murgia Plateau, the Matera Gravina cuts a rough gouge in the
Earth, a 200m-deep canyon pockmarked with abandoned caves and villages. You can hike from the
sassi
(former cave dwellings) into the gorge (steps lead down from the parking place near the Monas-
tero di Santa Lucia) and then up to the Belvedere in one to two hours, but a hike along the canyon rim
gives you a better appreciation of the termitelike network of caves that gave birth to the
sassi
. Ferula
Viaggi (
Click here
) offers excellent guided hikes into the gorge, as well as a range of hiking and cyc-
ling tours throughout Basilicata and Puglia.
1
Sasso Barisano
Chiesa di Madonna delle
Virtù & Chiesa di San Nicola
del Greci
(Via Madonna delle Virtù; 10am-7pm Sat & Sun)
This monastic complex is one of the most
important monuments in Matera and is composed of dozens of caves spread over two
floors.
Chiesa Madonna delle Virtù
was built in the 10th or 11th century and restored in the
17th century. Above it, the simple
Chiesa di San Nicola del Greci
is rich in frescoes. The com-
plex was used in 1213 by Benedictine monks of Palestinian origin.
CHURCH
