My mom wanted to do something with character or ambiance or a great view or something for Easter Weekend. Well, I didn't really know this in advance, so there was bit of scrambling to see what I could arrange for us to do/see. Enter Matera.
Matera is a bustling city like any other, however at its core is the Sassi. The Sassi di Matera are caves that originate from a prehistoric troglodyte settlement and are possibly the first human settlements in Italy. They have been regularly inhabited since then. The Sassi are carved out of calcarenitic rock called "tuffo." This is not the same as the volcanic rock tufa.
Anyway, a few of the Sassi have been developed into hotels and you can stay in them. If that doesn't say character and ambiance I don't know what does. I found a hotel that had space available, booked us a room, and we piled into the car (with Tantalum our dog) and headed out to the province of Bascilicata and to Matera.
But first, a scenic overlook of the Amalfi Coast!
It was on our way.
A boat!
These are some of the tiles along the scenic overlook barricade.
Getting to our hotel proved easier than past experiences would have lead us to believe.
The hotel also provided photos of where to turn and park, which helped immensely.
Our first look at the ravine below the Sassi.
The other side of the ravine, which also has caves, but these are less utilized now.
It was Good Friday and as you can see, there are crosses set up on the one side.
Our hotel!
Many of the residences/hotels/stores/etc that are now and have been in the Sassi have built up fronts and the original cave is in the back. Our hotel, Sextiano le Grotte della Civita, was designed in such a way as to try to really preserve what being in the caves would have been like. They hid all the electrical and plumbing fixtures. They also use really old (antique? vintage? museum pieces?) to furnish the rooms.
Many of the residences/hotels/stores/etc that are now and have been in the Sassi have built up fronts and the original cave is in the back. Our hotel, Sextiano le Grotte della Civita, was designed in such a way as to try to really preserve what being in the caves would have been like. They hid all the electrical and plumbing fixtures. They also use really old (antique? vintage? museum pieces?) to furnish the rooms.
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This is the side area and bathroom.
It was an open concept bathroom which made things.....interesting.
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The main bed room area.
There was a table and chairs behind me. Most of the light came from candles or the windows. |
Mom was quite pleased with all the character and ambiance.
We decided to head out to explore lunch possibilities, leaving Tantalum (Ta) to hang out in the room.
We ended up catching the end of the lunch hour at Baccus.
Despite our arriving 10 minutes before closing the staff was friendly and the food was lovely.
After lunch we acquired Ta and really started to explore.
I guess these were little taxi tours you could take.
I'm not really sure, I just thought it was a cute little vehicle.
Our first stop is a church - Madonna delle Virtú e San Nicola dei Greci.
Our Lady of Virtues was created around the 11th century and is an example of negative architecture. The structure was entirely created from digging out the rock.
Above it is the monastery of Saint Nicholas of the Greeks.
11th century frescoes and a Jesus from a crucifix. He was a little scary.
I though the floor was neat. Herringbone pattern for the win!
Dan and dad are looking at the carved ceiling of the main church.
Mom and Ta are ready to go to the next space.
These are some of the tombs from the monastery. Remember we are on top of the church. People were literally buried into the space between structures as they are all stacked on top of one another.
While exploring the church and monastery, I was reminded of something. This seemed familiar in a really vague tenuous way. And then it hit me.
We were going to spend the weekend pretending to be Fraggles!
I may or may have not spent a lot of time singing the Fraggle Rock theme song while exploring ancient cave dwellings. If you are not familiar with Fraggle Rock, you should stop what you are doing and go watch some of it.
It was very windy and a bit chilly. I was using my scarf to keep my ear warm.
Ta was not so sure about the caves......down in Fraggle Rock!
This trough in the wall was used for the production of wine.
People would stomp on the grapes in the trough and the juice would come out of the holes below.
Dance your cares away, worry's for another day, let the music play! Down in Fraggle Rock!
Okay, I'm done.
I swear.
After the church and monastery we wandered off to other parts of the Sassi.
erm....I don't remember what this is. But it's now used as a concert hall.
It's in the Piazza del Sedile.
The internet tells me that it used to be the town seat, or town hall, but in 1944 it was converted to be the National Conservatory. Now we all know.
A view looking out across the Sassi.
If I remember correctly, this statue/sculpture was created by a Japanese man who lives in the Sassi. I believe it is a representation of how precious water is to the Sassi. Being constructed of rock, water is a precious and scarce resource.
Or it could be an Italian Bob-omb.
Mom and dad and the Sassi in the background!
Woo!
I have no idea what this statue is about, but it seemed important.
There is some crazy old cistern thingie down here, but it had just closed when we found it.
Cue sad trombone.
Oh well, we'll walk around some more.
This piazza (Piazza Vittorio Veneto) was sort of the last barrier between the top of the Sassi and the modern town.
More churches! We are waiting for mom to come out.
Ta was welcome in most places, but we didn't want to push our luck.
At this point we slowly started to head back to the hotel.
This tree...shrub?... is decorated for Easter.
It has green mesh bags of I think rocks or beans hanging from it.
Mom and Dan decided to go back to the hotel. Dad and I went off to check out another church.
So the church was in the middle of service.
We quietly backed out and started making our way back to the hotel.
I don't know what kind of flower/plant this is, but I feel like it should be suction cup-like.
It is not.
The sun setting through the ravine.
Our side is all rock caves and the past, but through the ravine gap you can see a modern windmill.
The Sassi lighting up at night.
Full moon! I didn't have a tripod or extra zoom lenses, so this is the best I got.
We all took naps and hung out at the hotel for a little bit before going to dinner. If you haven't noticed, the Sassi are on a hillside and there a many many many many many steps to get to any and everything. I even spent time jogging back and forth to wear Ta out. She napped with us, so I think I succeeded.
We ate at Ristorante Baccanti. We had a lovely meal, but were slightly perplexed at the somewhat emptiness of the restaurant, especially for a Friday. When we left, we found out why.
Remember how I said it was Good Friday? Well it turns out the Sassi does a Passion play and light show on the far side of the ravine. Remember the crosses from before?
Now they glow! Laser light display!
Actually it was fascinating. I was not prepared for it and this is the best photo I could get. They had a sound system set up and broadcast the whole thing across the ravine. Since we were directly across from it, it was very loud. We couldn't hear in in the restaurant though. Turns out rock walls are pretty sound proof.
This concludes our adventures for the day.
April 4th
We only stayed the one night in the Sassi. Saturday we did a tour with a guide and then drove back home to Licola.
This is the view from our hotel courtyard in the other direction.
This is one of the only remaining gateways from the 13th century. Elsewhere around the Sassi you will see red crosses on walls which represent where other gateways would have been.
This is the Chisea del Purgatorio (Church of Purgatory). It was built in the 18th century, a baby compared to other structures in the Sassi, and is heavily decorated with skeletons.
They're kind of cute skeletons, as far as skeletons go.
Baroque style! Baroque style everywhere!
It was a wee little church. But very pretty.
The ravine makes sort of an "s" shape on one side of the Sassi. This is looking out at the hillside where the crosses were (right) and to where we had dinner/took photos of the light show (left).
These are some of the more interesting knick-knacks that were sold. Smurf (Puffi) whistles.
OH! How could I forget?! Speaking whistles, yesterday I purchased a Cucú, or chicken whistle. Dan is disappointed I did not purchased one of the giant ridiculous ones, but I really like the goofy little one I got.
Dan is sad I didn't purchased one of these. Photo Credit
This is similar to the one I purchased.
It is maybe half the size of the smaller of the giant crazy ones in the photo above. Photo Credit
Okay, anyway, our guide was telling us that because the Sassi were on the hill side and resources could be scarce, that they really used/reused everything.
Case-in-point, old animal bones used to hold up the gutters on this residence.
Sometime around the 1950's the government tried to evict the residents of the Sassi because living conditions were appalling. Lack of sanitation and cramped living quarters made the Sassi a haven for disease. No one was forcefully evicted, and those that did leave were provided housing in the new town, however, many chose not to leave. Today about 70% of the Sassi is goverment owned and many of the structures are empty. The other 30% are privately owned and have been renovated into hotels, restaurants, and homes with modern interiors.
Last looks at the Sassi.
And since it's Easter weekend, I'll end on the crosses above the ravine.
We headed home after our tour.
This concludes our adventure for today and our adventures in Matera.
