Matera has been elected as the European Capital of Culture 2019.
Matera is one of the most ancient cities in the world; its whole territory treasures the visibile signs of human settlements uninterruptedly from the Old Stone Age till today. Matera represents an extraordinary page written by men in more than 10.000 years of History.It’s the city of the SASSI, the original urban core, developed from natural caves dug into the tuff rock which have been shaped to obtain more and more complex housing within two big natural anphitheatres, namely the “Sasso Caveoso” and the “Sasso Barisano”.
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| In 1993, the Sassi of Matera were declared World’s heritage site by UNESCO, cronologically the sixth site in Italy and the first one in Southern Italy. On occasion of this inscription, UNESCO for the first time employs in the criteria and motives, the notion of cultural landscape which will be later used to motivate the inscription of other world sites. |
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The unique Sassi’s architecture tells about man’s ability to adapt himself to the surrounding environment and natural landscape, making wise use of the natural characteristics like the stable temperature of the caves, the dune limestone of the rocks in order to obtain “out of ground” housing and the support of the slopes for water and atmospheric phenomena control.
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| The Architectural structure consists of two systems; the first one immediately evident is obtained with the subsequent stratifications of houses, courts, galleries, palaces, churches, streets, orchards and gardens while the internal one, invisible at first sight consists of cisterns, snow cisterns, caves, tunnels and particular systems of water channels essential for life and community’s wealth. |
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The Sassi of Matera rise on a slope of a canyon dug by the Gravina torrent during the time. The Archeologic Historical and Natural Park of the Rupestrian Churches of the Materano stretches along the other slope; its landscape represents the original core of all those places whose growth was determined by the numerous human sttlements which developed only on the opposite slope.
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The park treasures the most ancient settlements of the whole area. Among these, the “Grotta dei pipistrelli” (Bats’ cave) whose palaeolithic findings are kept in the “Domenico Ridola” National Museum in Matera, the Neolithic villages of Murgecchia, Murgia Timone and Trasanello.
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Texts and photos (All rights reserved)
in cooperation with Basilicata’s promotional portal.
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Madonna dell’Idris Church |
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Paintings’ characteristic in the rocky complex of San Nicola dei Greci |
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Church of the Sun |
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The city is in the heart of an incredible rocky landscape which treasures a great cultural heritage rich in traditions; it is also the site of great exhibitions of national and international renown.
Matera is a city with a complex and fascinating history: border town, land of disputes, challenges, merging of landscapes, civilizations, and different cultures. From the rupestrian civilization of oriental and byzantine origins to the Norman’s invasion, the attempt to submit this rupestrian city to the cultural rules of a European city has been always the same: from the romanesque, to the Renaissance, to the Baroque the latter 8 centuries of construction and finishing of the city have attempted to shape, fight against the natural resistances of the pre-existing rocky habitat determining urban housing and architectures of particular quality and authenticity.
Today, again in line with the urbanistic european culture, those aspects connected to the challenge for the city’s upgrading, the sustainable recovery, the re-conquest of a lost identity are all activities which have brought this unique city in the spotlight; this is why Matera has become today Unesco World’s Heritage Site.
On the basis of this particular historical event, Matera offers today to its tourists the charming sensation to discover in the depth of its own culture and feelings, the traces sometimes apparently humble, sometimes cultivated of that competition which has affected the city for so long. |
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