Day 18, April 19th: Today we drove to and explored Matera, a city on a rocky outcrop in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It includes the Sassi area, a complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside. The Sassi are the most ancient quarters of the city, and they’ve been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1993.
We passed and said goodbye to Mount Vesuvius as we drove past field of mustard as we traveled south.
Check out the part of the town with the caves in the background. See:https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/670/
We visited a cave museum that depicted how people lived in the caves. It was larger than we expected and went deep into the hillside. The animals lived in the same quarters as the people. It was a very difficult life.
You can see the trails leading to the caves. There is a footbridge in the lower left from the town to the caves. In many areas they carved churches into the caves as well.
Check out the church carved into the rock near caves that people lived in. The rock is made out of Calcarenite, which is a soft and workable material.
San Giovanni in Monterrone and Santa Marla De Idris church really stands out. It is comprised of two churches almost entirely carved out of rock. It was closed, but the outside was amazing.
There are many well-worn staircases that go to get to the church. From the top of the church piazza this the city can be viewed.
We took in the sunset from the Duomo Piazza while listening to a busker play.
Matera lights up nicely at night as we walked back from the Duomo, center, to our B&B.
Our B&B, was actually in a cave room next to this church from 1649. See what our cave room looks like. It was cool but not cold!