Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
were forcibly relocated to new government housing schemes. In 1993 the
sassi
were de-
clared a Unesco World Heritage Site, and the town is currently gearing up to be the
European Capital of Culture in 2019. Ironically, the town's lack of development due to
years of misery has transformed it into Basilicata's leading tourist attraction.
MATERA IN THE MOVIES
Matera's unique geography makes it wonderfully photogenic: Italian director, writer and intellectual Pier Paolo
Pasolini filmed
Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo
(The Gospel According to St Matthew) here in 1964. Not a Christian
himself, Pasolini set out on an exploration of the life of Christ using the words of the gospel itself. It is visually
and conceptually hugely striking, infused with revolutionary spirit and featuring a cast of nonprofessional actors.
Forty years later, Mel Gibson came to town to make
The Passion of the Christ
, which follows in grueling detail
the last 12 hours of Christ's life, from his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane to his crucifixion at Golgotha; this
was filmed at the Belvedere (
Click here
). Mel's three-month stay in Matera was welcomed by the locals, many of
whom were cast as extras;
Trattoria Lucana
MAP
0835 33 61 17; Via Lucana 47;
Mon-Sat) still serves its homage dish
Fettuccine alla Mel Gibson
.
Film fans might want to follow a visit to Matera with a stay in nearby Bernalda, the ancestral home of film
maker Francis Ford Coppola. In what is clearly a labour of love, Coppola has restored a historic mansion in the
town to create the upmarket
Palazzo Margherita
( 0835 54 90 60;
www.coppolaresorts.com/palazzomargher-
ita
;
Corso Umberto 64; ste incl breakfast & cooking lessons from €360-€1800, 2-night minimum stay) hotel. The
lovely salon upstairs doubles as a screening room where you can watch classic Italian movies from a library com-
piled by Coppola for guests. And if you're just passing through, have a coffee at the hotel's Cinecittà bar, hung
with glamorous black-and-white images of Italian stars and directors. You'll have to ask locals to find the hotel as
it has no sign: Coppola prefers it to blend in to this otherwise unstarry little town.
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 ser-
pentine 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
