Mystical and Marvelous Matera

In front of an incredible view of the Sassi!

We took the Trenitalia high speed train south from Rome to town of Bari, located in the "heel" section of Italy. The countryside zipped by at over 100 miles per hour, thru grape vineyards, olive groves, and small no-name burgs with ancient crumbly buildings that time has forgotten.  From the high speed ride to a slo-mo regional train, we switched trains in Bari to get to Matera where we have entered a truly otherworldly place.  Matera is a city with roughly 3,000 caves and is the third oldest inhabited place on earth (after towns in Jordan and Syria).  We are staying in a lovely B&B right on the edge of the “Sassi” which, in Italian, means stones and is used to describe the oldest parts of the city made entirely of stone.  

The Sassi after Dark

In fact, we have a great view of the stone dwellings from our balcony, which overlooks almost all of old Matera.  When the caves were dug out, the people used the removed sandstone to create entrance ways to the cave houses making them look less like caves.  The overall effect is some of the most unusual architecture we have ever seen.  The Sassi are especially alluring at night, and we were mesmerized by the lighted views after dark.

Caves on the far side of the ravine where Matera's
first residents the hermit monks lived

History of the Sassi

On our first full day, we took a private walking tour to learn more about this fascinating place.  The area was first discovered by hermit monks who lived in caves carved out of the far hillside across a ravine.

Inside an original Sassi home looking from
the first level down to the second and
third levels carved out below

When more people arrived, the cave city was formed on the other side of the ravine by building from the top down into the sandstone with one home on top of another.  Most typical Sassi homes have three levels with each one going deeper down into the sandstone.   As we wandered around, we were constantly encountering working chimneys in our path because we were actually walking on the rooftops of the homes below us.   Everything in Matera is made of stone: all the houses, roads, walkways, stairs, and walls.

Inside the cramped quarters of a Sassi home -- imagine
ten people trying to eat our of one bowl on this little table!

In the early 1900’s, the Sassi became a place of extreme poverty where peasant families lived in the dank cave homes without electricity or plumbing.  We visited two restored Sassi cave houses to get a better idea of the living conditions.  The first floor was a living space for the entire family. Typically 8 – 10 family members were crammed in here. For their one meal a day, everyone gathered around a small table and ate out of the same big bowl.  The next level down was for the animals (believe it or not, people actually relied on animal manure to keep them warm), and the third level down was for the wine cellar (another necessity of life!). 

Plaintive face of a young peasant boy
from Carlo Levi's painting "Lucania 61"

Malaria and other diseases were commonplace in this unhygienic environment, and the childhood mortality rate was 50%.  Our guide, whose father grew up in the Sassi, told us that when food was really scarce, parents would give their children ground up poppy seeds (i.e. opium) to knock them out for three or four days as a way to keep them alive, but not have to feed them, or listen to them cry.  Finally in the 1950’s, the government forcibly evicted all 30,000 residents.  Unfortunately, this caused a great deal of pain and disruption (even though it was for their best). The government never adequately explained the reasons for evicting people from the only homes they ever knew.  These Sassi inhabitants were totally isolated for hundreds of years with no communication with the outside world, so they didn't realize how impoverished they were.

Lovely entrance to a Sassi home

After the evictions, the area was totally abandoned until residents realized the uniqueness of the Sassi, and the area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.  Today, the Sassi is being transformed with hotels, restaurants, and shops, but the original stone appearance is still faithfully retained; the government has established firm reconstruction rules for the Sassi, and each refurbished building must adhere to certain codes, like stone type, shutter color, and door style. .

Altar in one of the Sassi cave churches

The Sassi also includes 150 cave churches with ancient frescoes adorning the walls, many of them built by Turkish immigrants from Cappadocia (an area in Turkey also known for its caves).  Another odd thing about the ancient churches is that they were later used as homes and even turned into wineries.  People actually used the altars, which had deep hollow stone spaces inside, as wine vats.  Women and children stomped the grapes right inside the former altars!

Primitive conditions portrayed in a restored cave home
(See the poor guy in the back using the chamber pot!)

Carlo Levi

Carlo Levi is quite a big name in these parts.  He was a political dissident who opposed fascism and was sent to this area (along with many others) to live under a kind of house arrest in this isolated part of Italy.   Carlo, who was also a painter, wrote a book called “Christ Stopped at Eboli” (which Anne has read) that described the extreme poverty here in Matera.  He is credited with drawing attention to the problems and eventually forcing the government to act.

More of the Carlo Levi painting "Lucania 61"

We visited an art museum that contained several of Carlo Levi’s paintings including a lengthy mural painting called “Lucania 61” (Lucania was the Greek name for this region).  The powerful painting depicts the hard life in Matera at that time.  The faces of the men, women, and children in the painting are very moving and poignant.  An old Italian man tried to talk to us about the painting.  Sadly, we could not understand much of what he said, but he was quite emotional, and we wondered if he might have grown up in the Sassi himself.

"Meat Cleaver Head"

On a light note, this art museum also covered medieval art including this poor martyr we dubbed "Meat Cleaver Head."  Looks like he might'a pissed off a former wife, or husband of a lover?

Climbing the man stairs in the Sassi

Hiking among the Sassi

We spent two days wandering through the Sassi on our own, finding our way through a maze of walkways, up and down lots of steps, and hundreds of feet of vertical terrain.  This is one of those places with a photo op at every turn.  One minute you are standing in front of an upscale stone hotel or restaurant, and the next you are looking into an abandoned cave with no amenities at all, and some yapping dog outside barking at you for invading his Sassi turf..

"The Rock Church"

We were especially fascinated by what we called “The Rock Church,” a church looming above the town that appeared to be carved out of a giant boulder.  Of course, we had to hike up to it and scope it out.

Tina's incredible breakfast table
-- all for just the two of us!

The Food of Matera

Matera has the most delicious cuisine; we were constantly amazed by the variety.  Anne’s favorite dish was veal rolls filled with cheese and bacon topped with greens, cheese, and the sweetest tomatoes. Unbelievably buonissimo!  (We wish we had pictures, but the food was so good, we kept forgetting to get out the camera LOL)

This area is also famous for its bread, and the bread is indeed phenomenal – almost cake-like, fluffy and delicious.  At the B&B, our host Giuseppe and hostess Tina put out an incredible spread every morning:  amazing warmed-up croissants filled with almond cream and raisins, homemade cakes and jams plus fruit, yogurt, bread etc.  And Giuseppe generously served us homemade cherry liquor that was so smooth and delightfully fruity (made from their own cherries).  We had to do some serious hiking in the Sassi to work off the calories!

Frank, Tina, Anne & Giuseppe
(along with Tina's amazing sponge cake!)

Casa di Ele

In addition to the marvelous breakfasts (and the cherry liquor), our stay at the B&B Casa di Ele was a pleasure.  Giuseppe and Tina were the most wonderful hosts.  Even though they spoke only some English (and we speak little Italiano) we managed to communicate and have such fun interacting.  This is what travel is all about, making friends like these all over the world!

We REALLY appreciated Giuseppe on our last day.  He volunteered to drive us to Europcar in the new part of Matera to pick up our rental car.  Well, we got to the location and discovered that Europcar had closed up shop – it was gone!  Now what?  Well, Anne managed to get on the phone with Auto Europe our agency in the U.S. (via our Global Mobal phone that we carry for emergencies).  The Auto Europe rep named Nixon, was initially incredulous about the disappearance of Eurocar, but soon confirmed that the Europcar rental agency in Matera was kaput. 

Frank with our precious Citroen rental car

While Giuseppe patiently waited with us, Nixon eventually managed to get us a car at the town of Bari at the Airport about 1 hour away.  Giuseppe saved the day once again by lining us up with a taxi cab driver who drove us to the Bari Airport where we finally got our car.  What an ordeal!  Travel is full of unexpected challenges, but this one was a first for us.  We are so grateful to Giuseppe for staying with us until we got it all sorted out!