Sassi Di Matera

After our night among the
Trulli of Alberobello, we headed to the city of Matera to see another type of housing, the Sassi. Matera is a picturesque city with an ancient feel to it that is more middle eastern than Italian, a fact apparently noted by Mel Gibson, as this is where he chose to film the Passion of the Christ. In no small part thanks to that filming, this city has seen an increase in tourism lately and has been thus revitalized from a slum of 50 years ago to a vacation city today.

The city is built of many small buildings piled one atop another and wall to wall up a jagged rocky point, and many are actually built into that rock. Towards the top of the point stands a tiny church built mostly into the wall. Another, larger, church stands at the base of the point, separated from the jumble by a narrow cobbled street and wedged against the edge of a river's ravine that winds by the city. The town is all of one color and one stone, a pale tan tufa.

These houses, and their more primitive relatives on the hills across the ravine are the Sassi. From prehistoric times, man has been carving caves into these hills to live in. Over time, some had walls built in front of them, and the interiors developed into complex systems of living in small spaces, with all the conveniences of a bedroom, kitchen, living space, and even a barn all wrapped up into 1 room.

In the 1950's, many people were
thrown out, as the area had become depressed and something of a slum. You would never guess it from today's rustic splendor. We spent our small amount of time wandering the street and paying a cheap fee for entry to one of the Sassi, which, through a prerecorded message discussed many of the features of the sassi as they would have been used about 100 years ago.

While there are options to stay in one of these homes, and also many more individual places to visit here, our schedule dictated that we move on, but I was sad to leave so soon such a beautiful and interesting place.