🇮🇹Italy · Places to discover
What to see in Matera?
23 places selected by the community - landmarks, nature, hidden restaurants and activities.
Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, carved into the limestone rock of Basilicata since the Palaeolithic. Its Sassi-those troglodytic quarters that descend in tiers towards a ravine-were long regarded as a national embarrassment before being designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city carries this ambivalence in its stones: austere and luminous at once, far from southern folklore.
Spring (April-May) and autumn (September-October) offer low-angle light ideal for traversing the sloping alleys and manageable temperatures. Two days suffice to explore the Sassi Barisano and Caveoso without rushing. Matera is reached by train from Bari in under an hour. Avoid restaurants directly on Piazza Vittorio Veneto: prices are inflated there and quality rarely matches-descend into the alleys to eat well.
Landmarks & heritage
6 places
1Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Landmark
Sasso Barisano
The northern cave-dwelling district of Matera, more inhabited and lively than Caveoso, with its rock palaces and caves transformed into hotels and craftsmen's workshops. The architectural density is striking.
2Wikimedia CommonsLandmark
Rock Churches of Murgia – Crypt of Original Sin
Nicknamed the 'Sistine Chapel of Basilicata', this 9th-century rock church houses the region's finest frescoes, discovered only in the 1960s. Visits by reservation only, which ensures a contemplative atmosphere.
3Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0Landmark
Sassi di Matera – Sasso Caveoso
The oldest and best-preserved troglodytic quarter of Matera, carved directly into limestone rock. Walking its sloping alleyways at sunrise, when tourists are still asleep, reveals an atmosphere frozen in time.
4Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0Landmark
Convicinio di Sant'Antonio
A complex of four interconnected rock churches carved into a single block of tuff, converted into a wine cellar in the 18th century. The underground architecture and the layering of uses across centuries is fascinating.
5Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Landmark
Palombaro Lungo
Immense underground cistern carved beneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto in the thirteenth century, capable of storing 5 million litres of water. The guided tour through this illuminated cavernous space is a rare architectural experience.
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Landmark
Landmark
Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario
Cave dwelling meticulously reconstructed to show how an entire 1950s family lived with their animals in a single carved stone room. A poignant ethnographic record.
Museums
2 places
7Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Museum
Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata – Palazzo Lanfranchi
17th-century baroque palace housing an art collection from the Mezzogiorno often overlooked by hurried tourists. Works by Carlo Levi – author of 'Christ Stopped at Eboli' – are permanently exhibited.
8Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Museum
Museo Nazionale Ridola
The first public museum of Basilicata, housed in a former convent, retracing 300,000 years of the region's history with Greek ceramics and prehistoric tools from the Murgia. Essential for understanding the territory.
Religious sites
4 places
9Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Religious site
Santa Maria de Idris Rock Church
Rock church carved into the Monterrone monolith, with Byzantine frescoes from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries still visible on its walls. An intimate sanctuary suspended above the Sasso Caveoso.
10Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Religious site
Matera Cathedral
Thirteenth-century Romanesque-Apulian cathedral dominating the Sassi from the highest point of the Civita. The interior houses a polychrome wooden nativity of the sixteenth century and a Byzantine Virgin of exceptional fineness.
11Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Religious site
San Pietro Caveoso Church
Seventeenth-century Baroque church perched on the edge of a ravine, with a façade that directly engages with the surrounding Sassi. The square in front of it is one of the few flat spaces in the quarter – ideal for catching your breath.
12Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Religious site
Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi
Baroque church of the 18th century incorporating into its façade capitals and elements of two former rupestrian churches from the 11th century. A rare example of architectural layering spanning a thousand years of sacred history.
Nature
2 places
13Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0Nature
Lago di San Giuliano
Artificial lake 8 km from Matera, a WWF nature reserve frequented by flamingos, herons and wild ducks. A space of total tranquillity for a half-day away from the crowds.
14Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.5Nature
Gravina di Matera
Natural canyon carved by the Gravina torrent, separating the city from the Murgia plateau. Walking along its walls from the canyon floor offers a geological and historical reading of the site impossible to achieve from above.
Parks & gardens
1 place
15Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Park
Parco della Murgia Materana
Natural park of 8,000 hectares of limestone plateau riddled with 150 rupestrian churches and abandoned troglodytic villages. An exceptional hiking terrain just steps from the city.
Viewpoints
3 places
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Viewpoint
Viewpoint
Belvedere di Piazza Giovanni Pascoli
Public terrace overlooking the Civita with a direct view of Sasso Caveoso and the Murgia plateau in the background. Free, accessible at any time, and often less crowded than the official viewpoints.
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Viewpoint
Viewpoint
Via Bruno Buozzi Viewpoint
Quiet panoramic terrace in the Piano district, offering a sweeping view over the Sasso Barisano without the crowds of photographers. The locals' secret spot for evening aperitivo.
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Viewpoint
Viewpoint
Murgia Timone Viewpoint
Vantage point from the Murgia plateau, across from the Sassi – the only perspective allowing you to see the entire site at a glance. The sunset panorama is the one found on every postcard, but better.
Activities
3 places
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Activity
Activity
Hiking in the Gravina – Sentiero delle Sette Pietre
A 6 km trail descending into the canyon's depths, following the stream and climbing back towards the Murgia past abandoned rupestrian villages. The best way to understand how the site was inhabited for millennia.
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Activity
Activity
Ceramiche d'Arte Cutuli Pottery Workshop
Family workshop in the historic centre perpetuating the tradition of Lucanian ceramics for three generations. Possibility to watch pottery being turned or to buy directly from the workshop, without intermediaries.
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Activity
Activity
Guided tour of rupestrian churches with local guide
The 150 rupestrian churches of the Murgia are impossible to explore alone without getting lost or missing the essentials. Local guides from the Ferula Viaggi association know every fresco and every trail on the plateau.
More to discover
2 places
22Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0Place
Piazza Vittorio Veneto
The true central square of Matera, both the living room of residents and gateway to the underground Palombaro Lungo. In the evening, when terraces come alive and Materani take their passeggiata, the heart of the city beats here.
23Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0Place
Via del Corso – Piano Quarter
The main commercial thoroughfare of the Piano quarter, where true Materani live and shop, far from the tourist bustle of the Sassi. Small groceries and local cheese vendors are still thriving here.
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