Meet Matera and its cave dwellings!

The third  oldest continually inhabited in the world place, Matera , is a network of caves inhabited since prehistoric times.

 

 

 

 

 

Matera is the place of the Sassi ( translated as the stones), which are actually 2 neighboorhoods of stone dwellings in the ancient city.

Situated in the region of Basilicata in the South of Italy, Matera , the place where the famous movie Passion of the Christ( starring Mel Gibson) was filmed, is getting ready to be the European capital of culture in 2019. If you happen to be there these days, you will see much work in progress.

These natural caves in the tufa limestone were back in the past a place of poverty and hardships. People were evacuted in the  year 1952 due to poor living conditions. Families with 9 or 10 children used to live in one room , together with the mules, chickens  or pigs. There was no natural light,ventilation, running water ,plumbing or electricity. There were numerous cases when they were dying of hunger, malaria,cholera or typhoid.There were about 15000 people, most of them farmers and peasants.

Today the place requires from its visitors good walking shoes, because if you want to get in touch with the spirit of the place  and see its beauty ,you are supposed to climb narrow paths ans stairs. The views are outstanding and unique!

 

You can also see rupestrian churches( carved into stone frescoes) that fit so well the sightseeing. Some few new and elegant restaurants welcome you in a traditional Italian Southern way.

Enjoy!

Dwarfing around Alberobello

Fancy living a fairy tale? Then , go to Alberobello, a place in Puglia, in the Province of Bari, Southern Italy. The charming place, with a population of almost 11000 inhabitants offers you picturesque settings all due to the incredible trulli houses that you can see here.

They are called trulli ( the  name derives from the late Greek word, which meant dome) and they are an ensemble of about 1600 white washed conical roofed houses.

 

On the roofs there are all kind of painted symbols with religious ans superstitious values. The local people are ready to sell you souvenirs and all types of stories which refer to these enigmatic symbols.

 

The first trullo ( the singular of trulli) appeared in the Bronze Age but the ones that you can see today in Alberobello date back to the 14th century ,probably since the year 1350. Their purpose seemed to be to fiddle the taxes and fool the authorities by not paying, since they seemed to be identified as temporary and unstable and easy to be demolished settlements.

 

Rione Monti ( a district on a slope facing the modern center) and Aja Piccolo are the 2 quarters where you can see these huts,made of local limestone with corbelled roofs. They are still inhabited today.  There is even a trullo church ( La Chiesa dei Sant Antonio) and a few small museums that you can visit.

They have been part of the UNESCO heritage since 1996. Their building implied a prehistoric building technique.  Their thick dry stone walls ( mortarless) strengthen their structure and regulate the internal temperature.

Their rotund form  and conic roofs assured thier durability over the years. The technique seems to be perfect!

 

 

 

 

Go and visit this place, its charm is going to fill your soul!