This remarkable city, the third-longest continuously inhabited human settlement in the world, that once held so much sorrow, is one of the most unique and fascinating places you will ever visit anywhere in the world. Carved into the rock, Matera is composed of a network of caves inhabited since the Paleolithic era. The grey city is haunting in a way, its location bleak on the edge of a a rugged ravine, parched grasses and spiky cacti amongst the outcrops descending to the trickle of the river below. You can look across the ravine and see a hill punctuated with small caves; these are actually the palaeolithic caves which make Matera’s story so unique.
In more recent years, unknown to much of Italy, the city hid a society living in poverty… malaria was rife…and families lived alongside their animals within the caves as recently as the 1950’s…with no toilet facilities or water source. Child mortality rates exceeded 50 per cent. “Old’ Matera has come a long way in the since then and is now considered one of the cultural centres of Europe. The caves, once pits of squalor are now sought-after boutique accommodation. Today it is a place to stroll in the sun, marvel at the architecture, fall in love and gain a sense of all that is wonderful in southern Italy.
The first glimpse of the Matera sassi stops you in your tracks…looking down at the dramatic tangle of grey stone houses…walking down a steep staircase, we plunged into a magical world that doesn’t quite feel real. In search of our hotel we wander the narrow lanes that run higgledy-piggledy courses through the caves. 
The streets are such tiny little alleyways, with so many staircases that even Google maps seemed to be confused…which meant trying to find our hotel was a bit of a laugh…at least to start.
Buildings climb up and down the hillside, houses piled on top of each other, the roofs of some (our hotel was one of these) acting as streets for those above.
They were carved out of the rock and the original caves extended with facades that look like normal homes. The best way…or really the only way…to explore the neighbourhoods is on foot, roaming through the labyrinth of narrow alleyways, interconnecting loops, up and down the uneven stone staircases…discovering dead ends and pretty little courtyards adorned with flowerpots and green cacti…cave churches and expansive views of the sassi…disappear through spectacular archways to encounter a magical world that doesn’t quite feel real and looks not of this time…it almost feels as if you’ve been transported back to the ancient Holy Land and it’s easy to see why so many filmmakers have adopted Matera as the setting of choice for Biblical-era cities.
Chimneys erupt from the cobblestones and it feels like you are on the set of a movie. Hang on a minute…we actually are…and we are unwitting extras in the next James Bond movie set which is being filmed here. We are made to wait for what seemed like an interminable time in the hot sun, not able to get to our hotel due to filming. A couple walking…I’m not sure how that can be done wrongly but they redo the scene over and over. I think of a time years ago when my youngest son Chrissy was sick with an ear infection and we were standing at the doctors reception having just been told there would be a long wait…he timed his fainting perfectly and we were rushed straight in. I wondered if a pretend faint would stop them filming long enough to allow us to pass and get to our hotel to check in. We are eventually able to continue on our way but these inconveniences continue as the filming has pretty much taken over the town for the next 5 months.
The only two ‘specific’ things I was wanting to see while here were closed to the public- Madonna de Idris, a small church chiselled into the rock which we could see clearly as we wandered and was being used extensively for filming.
The other was a cave restaurant recommendation- Trattoria del Caveoso, as rustic as you can get and carved into the stone- but this had been taken over by crew for the duration of filming.
At times it was quite exciting to see how a big budget movie is made. We even watched a scene being filmed with the James Bond car in it
So, despite the inconveniences, we loved this unique town and could not help but be awe-struck…so expressive and touching is its sorrowful beauty…
and I think to myself what a wonderful world 