Matera (Feb 12, 2025)

Matera is a town that we had seen on YouTube videos and all of them said it was a great experience, which is why we put it on our itinerary.  There is evidence of human habitation here from the Paleolithic era (which interests me) and its scenery has been used in several movies (which interests Fe).  

It's about 66 km (54 mi) south of Bari and we could have taken a bus or train there, but the schedules weren't great and it wasn't clear (to me) exactly how to get from the station to the historic sites; there was no public transit available in Matera that I could find.  So we splurged and booked a guided tour of the place from a guide who would drive us directly from Bari to Matera--and I'm glad we did.  He was very friendly, he really knew his history, pointing out things I would have missed, and (almost as important) he knew a great place for lunch.  I've discovered that even cheap, fast Italian food is excellent.

Once we arrived around 1130 or so, he dropped us off at the lunch spot (he knew the owner) and went looking for a place to park.  When he came back, we started walking through town towards the historic sites.  

Town Hall

Church of St John the Baptist.  The main entrance has Arabic influences.

Never saw a column like this in a church before--and you know we've seen a lot of churches.

Piazza del Sedile.  The building facing the square was the original town hall until 1944, but now holds the Conservatory of Music.

Matera doorway

Coppersmith statue

We finally made it to the historic site, called the "Sassi," which means stones in Italian.  It refers to the ancient cave dwellings that make up the city center.  It is, of course, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Fe and I

View from above

Looking down at thousands of years of history.

Another view

Fe along the walkway

Stairway

Archway view

One of the older passages, used by Greeks, Romans, Medieval Italians--maybe even Paleolithic humans!

Archway used by the Romans with medieval paintings

Matera cat

Don't see many cars in this area, but here's one.

Lots of stairs and walking today, so we were glad to have an easy ride back to Bari.  Our guide had a history degree and (I think) sociology as well, so we chatted about Italian and American history as well as cultural differences and what we've noticed here--and what he noticed about the US when he visited.  It made for a speedy trip--even when he stopped on the roadside so we could smell the olive groves.

If you decide to visit Matera, I can certainly recommend taking a tour.  But once I was here and saw how walkable the town was, I realized that it could be done on your own.  Doing that would also allow you to stay later and the historic center would be really cool to see at sunset or later when it lights up.