Matera, a rare jewel of Basilicata, is an enchanting miracle of time. Visiting this Lucanian city is like reliving a glorious past. It resembles a small and delightful nativity scene, which is why it is known as ’the second Bethlehem’, providing a backdrop for films such as Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel according to St. Matthew and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.
Matera, a rare jewel of Basilicata
The symbol of the city are the “Sassi”, caves dug into the mountain where the local people lived until they were forced to settle in modern accommodation in the 1950s.
The history of Matera goes way back to Palaeolithic settlements, while the first Neolithic pottery in Matera dates back to around 7500 years BC, when terracotta pottery was produced in the villages. Built on an entrenched prehistoric village, the town is likely to have Greek origins.
It hosted key immigrations of Byzantine and Benedictine monks, who transformed the caves of the huge Gravina valley into rock churches.
After the settlement of the Normans in Italy, the city enjoyed a period of peace, followed by famine and earthquakes. The people of Matera have never been afraid to make themselves heard: they were the first in the south to rebel against Nazi occupation.
In 1952, a national law called for the evacuation of the Sassi, considered the “shame of Italy” due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, and the construction of new residential districts to develop a new city area.
Here is a photographic impression of the city of Matera in Southern Italy.