Matera: The Ancient Cave City That Became a Capital of Culture

Stand at the edge of the ravine in Matera at dusk and look down into the Sassi. The terraced cave-city spreads below you in a great golden bowl — thousands of dwellings carved directly into the pale tuff rock of a gorge in Basilicata, each lit by warm light, connected by stone stairways that twist and overlap like a dream. This is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world, with evidence of human habitation dating back at least 9,000 years. For most of the 20th century, Matera was considered a national embarrassment. Today it is considered a national treasure. Both judgements are accurate.

The Sassi di Matera are the ancient cave districts carved into the sides of a deep ravine called the Gravina. There are two main districts: Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano, plus the Civita, the promontory in between where the cathedral stands. The cave dwellings — called sassi, which simply means 'stones' — were home to Matera's poorest population well into the 20th century. Whole families, including their livestock, lived in single cave rooms with no running water, no sanitation, and little light. Malaria was endemic. Child mortality was catastrophic. In 1945, the writer Carlo Levi published Christ Stopped at Eboli, describing the poverty of southern Italy, and Matera's Sassi became a symbol of Italy's forgotten south.

In 1952, the Italian government — pressured by prime minister Alcide De Gasperi, who called the Sassi 'the shame of Italy' — forcibly evacuated the entire cave population and relocated them to modern apartments on the plateau above. The caves were sealed. For decades they stood empty. Then, in 1993, Matera was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site — the first site in southern Italy — and a slow transformation began. The caves were opened, restored, reimagined. Today the Sassi contain cave hotels, cave restaurants, cave museums, and cave churches. In 2019, Matera was European Capital of Culture. From shame to glory in less than 70 years.

Matera has also become a favourite location for filmmakers drawn to its ancient, otherworldly landscape. Pier Paolo Pasolini filmed his version of the Gospel According to St Matthew here in 1964, using the Sassi as the setting for ancient Palestine. Mel Gibson filmed The Passion of the Christ here in 2004. Nanni Moretti used it for locations. The James Bond film No Time to Die (2021) opened with an extraordinary car chase through the Sassi's narrow stone lanes. Each film adds another layer to a city that already has more layers than almost anywhere on Earth.