Associazione Città Italiane Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO
The Sassi of Matera
Associazione Città Italiane Patrimonio Unesco
il Castello Tramontano
La Chiesa di San Francesco D'Assisi
La chiesa rupestre Madonna delle Vergini
Il set del film The Passion di Mel Gibson nei Sassi
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The first settlement in Matera dates back a long way. Palaeolithic findings and Neolithic and Bronze Age underground settlements have been uncovered. The original town centre is the Civitas, overlooked by the cathedral. To either side lie two karstic basins that are home to the Sassi districts of Caveoso and Barisano that Unesco inscribed on their World Heritage List in 1993.
Gattini and Volpe bear witness to previous Grecian and Roman settlements.
In the 6th century Matera was invaded by the Goths. After them came the Lombards who fought it out over the centuries with the Byzantines. As a result of all these invasions in the 130 years between 867 and 994, the town was destroyed and rebuilt three times. From the 10th century onwards the region became home to numerous religious houses (stone churches, convents, monasteries). The town expanded beyond its original boundaries of the Civitas.
Matera came under Angevin dominion in the period between the 12th and 13th centuries. The town was later to be ruled by some of the leading landowners, including the Orsini del Balzos, Sanseverinos, etc. Matera was then taken over by the Aragon dynasty. In the 15th and 16th centuries, there was a large influx of Albanians and Serbo-Croats compelled to flee their countries by the invading Turks.
The Aragon rulers then sold the town to Count Giancarlo Tramontano, but his heavy-handed taxation regime caused the populace to rise up and kill him in 1514. Work on the castle he had ordered was thus left unfinished.
Sold and ransomed many times, Matera was chosen in 1663 as the headquarters of the Regia Udienza in Basilicata, which position it occupied until 1806. The town then followed the fortunes of Southern Italy until the unification of Italy. Since 1927 it has been a provincial capital. Matera was awarded a Silver Medal for its uprisings against the Fascists on 21st September 1943.
Do not miss the Sassi, the 155 cliff top churches throughout the region, the Parco della Murgia Materana, the plains with their 17th century churches, the various art galleries, “Ridola” Museum, and the historic centre.
The Sassi of Matera
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History, art and culture
The first settlement in Matera dates back a long way. Palaeolithic findings and Neolithic and Bronze Age underground settlements have been uncovered. The original town centre is the Civitas, overlooked by the cathedral. To either side lie two karstic basins that are home to the Sassi districts of Caveoso and Barisano that Unesco inscribed on their World Heritage List in 1993.
Gattini and Volpe bear witness to previous Grecian and Roman settlements.
In the 6th century Matera was invaded by the Goths. After them came the Lombards who fought it out over the centuries with the Byzantines. As a result of all these invasions in the 130 years between 867 and 994, the town was destroyed and rebuilt three times. From the 10th century onwards the region became home to numerous religious houses (stone churches, convents, monasteries). The town expanded beyond its original boundaries of the Civitas.
Matera came under Angevin dominion in the period between the 12th and 13th centuries. The town was later to be ruled by some of the leading landowners, including the Orsini del Balzos, Sanseverinos, etc. Matera was then taken over by the Aragon dynasty. In the 15th and 16th centuries, there was a large influx of Albanians and Serbo-Croats compelled to flee their countries by the invading Turks.
The Aragon rulers then sold the town to Count Giancarlo Tramontano, but his heavy-handed taxation regime caused the populace to rise up and kill him in 1514. Work on the castle he had ordered was thus left unfinished.
Sold and ransomed many times, Matera was chosen in 1663 as the headquarters of the Regia Udienza in Basilicata, which position it occupied until 1806. The town then followed the fortunes of Southern Italy until the unification of Italy. Since 1927 it has been a provincial capital. Matera was awarded a Silver Medal for its uprisings against the Fascists on 21st September 1943.
Do not miss the Sassi, the 155 cliff top churches throughout the region, the Parco della Murgia Materana, the plains with their 17th century churches, the various art galleries, “Ridola” Museum, and the historic centre.