 on its bottom... roofs that become floors for houses above... A dense net of narrow streets and a constant feeling of a non-real toy-like space. This is Sassi di Matera — a unique cave city at the heel of Italy's "boot"){kind=link}
Old dwellings, carved right in the rock… a deep ravine with a fast stream (Gravina) on its bottom… roofs that become floors for houses above… A dense net of narrow streets and a constant feeling of a non-real toy-like space. This is Sassi di Matera — a unique cave city at the heel of Italy’s “boot” that housed thousands of people.
Cave cities are not so rare on our planet. Some of them still exist in modern world and remind us about the primitive life in distant past. But Matera is absolutely different and unique. You will be surprised to find out a very special fact about this unusual place…
A walk around Matera will bring you to a distant past. The first carved caves appeared here more than 9000 years ago
Photo: By Tango7174, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Photo: By Tango7174, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Simple dwellings were carved right inside the rocks. Thus people could get more homes for the growing population
Photo: By Airin, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo: By Hajotthu, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo: Revol Web/flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The old town, called “Sassi di Matera” appeared as a prehistoric troglodyte settlement. These homes were literally primitive
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Photo: pixabay.com (CC0 Creative Commons)
Photo: By Airin, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 1.0)
Domestic animals and cattle lived under one roof with their owners, so disease was a common thing
Photo: vic15/flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: pixabay.com (CC0 Creative Commons)
Photo: Revol Web/flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo: By Cristoforo64, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
But there’s a special fact that makes Matera absolutely unique…
Photo: Piervincenzo Madeo/flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: Eduard Marmet/flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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… people still live in these abandoned ruins!
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Photo: Daniele Peterlini/flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: Eduard Marmet/flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
So, Matera is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited cave city in the world
Photo: Loris Silvio Zecchinato/flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: By Dominique grassigli at Italian Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
After the WWII some locals were forced to leave their caves because the cliffs became unstable
Photo: By Airin, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 1.0)
Photo: By Dominique grassigli at Italian Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Some of the caves were rearranged into restaurants and hotels with absolutely unique atmosphere
Photo: John Leeson/flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: Rex Hammock/flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
By the end of the 20th century old houses of Matera have received running water and electricity
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Photo: By Tango7174, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
You may find this amazing place in numerous movies. One of the most famous among them is The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson
Photo: Clemensfranz, Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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Since 1993 Sassi di Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Photo: By Joergsam, from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo: pixabay.com (CC0 Creative Commons)
Photo: pixabay.com (CC0 Creative Commons)
Can you imagine your life in a 9000-years old cave city? If you’re looking for adventures, this unique place should be a must in your bucket list!
How to get to Sassi di Matera:
You can get to Sassi di Matera by train or by bus from the city of Bari.