I went to Matera because of a Bond film. I stayed because the Sassi — the ancient cave dwellings carved into the limestone gorge — are the most extraordinary thing I've seen in Italy — surpassing even Rome and Florence. And I've been to Italy seven times.
The FAL train from Bari Centrale to Matera takes 1.5 hours and costs 5 EUR. It rattles through the Apulian countryside — olive groves, stone walls, dry riverbeds. The train is old. The air conditioning is aspirational.
Matera's train station sits above the modern town. The Sassi are invisible from here. You walk through unremarkable streets, past normal Italian bars and gelaterias, and then — without warning — the ground falls away and you're looking into a canyon filled with ancient cave houses stacked on top of each other like a vertical labyrinth.
The scale doesn't register at first. Your brain tries to process it as a normal town. It is not a normal town. It's a 9,000-year-old city carved into rock.
Checked into a cave hotel — Locanda di San Martino, an old cave dwelling converted into a boutique room. 95 EUR/night. The walls are bare limestone. The ceiling is curved rock. The bed is modern and comfortable. The WiFi works. The disconnect between ancient rock and modern amenities is part of the charm.
Evening walk through Sasso Barisano as the sun dropped. The golden light hit the limestone and the entire gorge glowed. I ate cime di rapa orecchiette at Trattoria Lucana (12 EUR) and drank Aglianico red wine from a local producer (4 EUR glass). Total dinner cost: under 20 EUR.
The Sassi di Matera are divided into two districts: Sasso Barisano (facing the cathedral) and Sasso Caveoso (further south). Both are free to walk. Both will destroy your calves.
The lanes are steep, uneven, and made of ancient stone that becomes slippery in any moisture. Hundreds of steps connect different levels. I wore hiking boots and was grateful for it. A woman in heels lasted about four minutes.
Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario (5 EUR, Sasso Caveoso) is a preserved cave dwelling showing how families lived until the 1950s. One room. One family. One mule. A cistern system for water collection. The guide explained how 15,000 Materani lived like this — entire families sharing a single carved space with their animals in conditions that Carlo Levi described as medieval.
The rupestrian churches are scattered throughout. Santa Maria de Idris (3 EUR) is built into a rocky spur with Byzantine frescoes inside. San Pietro Barisano (3 EUR) is the largest — a full church carved into the hillside. The interiors are cool, dark, and deeply atmospheric.
Lunch: a focaccia with local olive oil and peperoni cruschi (dried sweet peppers) from a street vendor. 4 EUR. The peperoni cruschi are addictive — crispy, sweet, slightly smoky.
Crossed the Gravina canyon via the Tibetan-style pedestrian bridge to reach the Belvedere di Murgia Timone viewpoint. This is the panorama. The entire Sassi cascading down the canyon wall, golden in morning light. This is where they filmed the No Time to Die helicopter scene. This is where Mel Gibson filmed The Passion of the Christ.
I sat on a rock for 45 minutes, eating Pane di Matera — the local bread with IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) status. The loaves are enormous (1-2 kg), baked in wood-fired ovens, with a thick crust and dense, yellow crumb. I'd bought one from Panificio Perrone for 3 EUR and paired it with local olive oil. This is the best bread I've ever eaten. I say that knowing it sounds absurd.
Afternoon: booked a visit to the Crypt of Original Sin — 10 EUR, reservation required, 15 minutes outside Matera. A cave containing 9th-century frescoes sometimes called the "Sistine Chapel of cave art." The frescoes depict Biblical scenes in a style that predates most European church art by centuries. Dark, cool, extraordinary.
MUSMA — the Museum of Contemporary Sculpture — is housed in a 17th-century palazzo carved into cave rooms (7 EUR). Modern Italian sculptures displayed in ancient rock chambers. The interplay between contemporary art and 9,000-year-old geology creates combinations that no purpose-built gallery could achieve.
Afternoon hike through the Parco della Murgia Materana — the ravine parkland across the canyon. More rupestrian churches (some with frescoes still intact), shepherd paths, and landscape that looks Biblical. The park is why Gibson chose Matera for his film — it genuinely looks like 1st-century Palestine.
Dinner at Oi Mari — pizza from 6 EUR, Aglianico wine, and a view over Sasso Caveoso. The sunset lit the cave city orange, then pink, then dark violet. The waiter brought a plate of fried peperoni cruschi without me asking. This is southern Italian hospitality.
Final morning. Walked the Sassi at 7AM when nobody else was up. The stone lanes were empty. My footsteps echoed off the cave walls. A cat watched me from a doorstep. The morning light was blue-grey and quiet.
Bought a final loaf of Pane di Matera and a bag of peperoni cruschi for the train. Walked to the station. Caught the FAL back to Bari for my flight.
I'm going back in October. And I might combine it with the Amalfi Coast. The Sassi are different in every light condition — I want to see them in autumn. I want to stay at Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita, the high-end cave hotel that charges 350 EUR/night to sleep in a restored medieval grotto. I want to eat more bread.
Matera is the kind of place that changes how you think about cities. It proves that human habitation doesn't have to mean destruction — that people can carve a home out of rock and live in it for 9,000 years. That a place once called "the shame of Italy" can become a UNESCO treasure and a European Capital of Culture.
Wear hiking boots. Buy the bread. And give it at least three nights.
Total spend for 5 days:
