🇮🇹 Italy · Places to discover
What to see in Matera ?
21 places curated by Hozy - landmarks, nature, hidden restaurants and activities.
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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 (10)
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SASanta Maria de Idris Rock Church
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAMatera Cathedral
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SASasso Barisano
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAChiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAMuseo Nazionale Ridola
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAPalombaro Lungo
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAConvicinio di Sant'Antonio
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (en) - CC BY-SASassi di Matera – Sasso Caveoso
Landmark
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SASan Pietro Caveoso Church
Landmark
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.Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario
Landmark
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.Nature & parks (2)
Wikipedia (en) - CC BY-SAGravina di Matera
Nature
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAParco della Murgia Materana
Nature
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)
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAMurgia Timone Viewpoint
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SABelvedere di Piazza Giovanni Pascoli
Viewpoint
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAVia Bruno Buozzi Viewpoint
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.Activities (4)
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAGuided tour of rupestrian churches with local guide
Activity
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAMuseum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata – Palazzo Lanfranchi
Activity
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.Hiking in the Gravina – Sentiero delle Sette Pietre
Activity
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.Ceramiche d'Arte Cutuli Pottery Workshop
Activity
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.More to discover (2)
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAVia del Corso – Piano Quarter
Place
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.
Wikipedia (it) - CC BY-SAPiazza Vittorio Veneto
Place
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.