10 Things to do in Matera, Italy Travel Guide
Join us as we visit Matera, Italy in this travel guide covering top attractions, things to do and food worth eating in la Città Sotterranea (the Subterranean City). As one of our favorite cities we visited from our trip to Europe and around Italy Matera is somewhere you go to get lost around every corner. As one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, you'll find yourself exploring caves, the historical center 'sassi' and UNESCO heritage churches along with eating delicious Italian food. An exciting announcement is that Matera was declared Italian host of European Capital of Culture for 2019.
1) Chiesa rupestre di San Pietro Barisano
2) Convent of Saint Agostino
3) Cathedral of Matera
4) Chiesa di Santa Maria di Idris
5) Murgia National Park
6) La Grotta nei Sassi Restaurant
7) Storica Casa Grotta di vico Solitario
8) Palombaro Lungo - Underground Matera Tour
9) Ristorante Nadi
10) Matera at Night
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Our visit Matera travel guide documentary covers some of the top attractions including a food guide to Italian cuisine, top sightseeing tourist attractions and the city by day and night including visiting churches, parks, the old town 'sassi', quirky neighborhoods, museums and caves. We also cover off-the-beaten-path outdoor activities you won't find in a typical Matera tourism brochure, Matera itinerary or Matera city tour also known as Matera, Italia.
10 Things to do in Matera, Italy Travel Guide Food Video Transcript:
One destination that’s been at the very top of our travel bucket list for a while now is Matera, and on this trip to Italy, we were determined to make it happen!
Nicknamed “the stone city”, Matera has been quite literally dug out of the rock, and it’s a sight you won’t soon forget. Set on the slope of a rocky ravine, the landscape is dominated by cave dwellings, zigzagging staircases, and early churches that hold some incredible frescoes once you set foot inside.
During our visit, we stayed in the “sassi”, which is the ancient town, and in our opinion, the best way to soak in the vibe of this place.
Now in this video, we’re going to take you on a tour of the city and show you some of the things you can see, do and eat when you visit Matera.
Matera is well-known for its rupestrian churches, carved into the rock and covered in frescoes.
We first stopped by Chiesa Rupestre di San Pietro Barisano, which is the largest rock church in the city of Matera.
We wanted to show you the frescoes, so we continued to Convento di Sant’Agostino, a church and convent dating back to the late 16th Century. We started walking uphill via a series of staircases and winding streets, until we found ourselves in front of Matera Cathedral.
The rocky landscape we noticed is called Murgia (MoorJa) National Park and it’s an archaeological site with cliffs, gorges & caves.
Let’s take a quick break to introduce you to Materan cuisine. Like most of the establishments in Matera, this restaurant was set in a cave and we ate pasta, wine & dessert?
We spent a lot of time visiting cave churches, but for a look at how locals lived in these troglodyte dwellings, we visited Casa Grotta.
The Sassi District is a made up of a network of dwellings carved into the steep slopes of the valley walking into the Casa Grotta.
We visited Palombaro Lungo, a massive water cistern that sits directly under Matera’s main square.
After visiting Palombaro Lungo, we also found ourselves in front of the ruins of Chiesa del Santo Spirito. The church sits beneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto where you can make out frescoes on the walls.
Continuing our quest for Materan cuisine, we ended up at Ristorante Nadi - another cave restaurant that we stumbled upon by chance to see if we could get through a 4 course meal.
Our final recommendation for Matera would be to explore the city at night. Matera looks magical between sunset and blue hour and it was a pleasure to wander around with camera in hand.
And that’s a wrap for Matera! We hope you guys enjoyed discovering Italy’s famed Stone City, and we’ll see you soon with more videos from Italy.
This is part of our Travel in Italy video series showcasing Italian food, Italian culture and Italian cuisine.
Music in this video courtesy of Birocratic:
Best Things to do in Matera Italy Travel Guide
Heading to Matera, Basilicata in Italy?
We have a video on what to do in the Matera, Italy? If you are planning a holiday in Matera, you will find our video helpful, containing info on how best to tackle your days at Matera.
But before we start as a quick tip whilst you are booking your accommodation, make sure you stay in Matera Sassi, which is the Matera Centro Storico of the town. It is stunning and you won't regret spending the few extra dollars to base yourself here.
In our video, we share some ideas about the best places to visit in Matera, as well as show you where to go in Matera to see some of the top sights.
Visit Matera to see some stunning churches built into the rocks, visit the casa grotta's to see how the people used to live. There are so many interesting places in Matera to check out.
We highly recommend you plan your Matera trip so that you stay for at least 2-3 nights.
Enjoy the video on the top things to do in Matera.
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Andrew and Giorgio pay a visit to the region of Basilicata and the spectacular town of Matera, also known as Sassi after its caves have been inhabited since Palaeolithic times.
A Day in MATERA, Italy / City Walk
A day in Matera, Italy - walking throughout the city.
Matera is one of the most interesting and incredible destinations in Italy. The ancient town is famous for the extensive cave-dwelling districts called sassi, that are carved into the rocks and have been inhabited for centuries until present time. There are two sassi districts - Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano. This video presents the main sights to see in these districts - the Matera cathedral, San Pietro Caveoso church, S.Maria of Idris church, Palazzo Lanfranchi, S. Francis of Assisi church, Piazza Vittorio Veneto with the big cistern Palombaro lungo, that supplies city with water, etc.
For more authentic experience you can rent a cave room / flat during your stay in Matera.
Sassi and rupestrian churches of Matera have been listed in the Unesco World Heritage Site.
Matera has also been elected as one of the 2019 European capital of culture along with the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Recently, Matera became one of the settings for the filming of the new James Bond 007 movie No time to die 2020.
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Matera, Italy Walking Tour [4K | 60fps]
WALKING IN MATERA, ITALY: Walk down the ancient streets of Matera, recently voted the European Capital of Culture for 2019. The tour begins at the Piazza Vittorio Veneto on June 28th, 2019, just 4 days before Matera's biggest celebration of the year, Festa della Bruna. Matera is known for their ancient cave-dwellings known as the Sassi. This walk will take you through the Sasso Barisano and the Sasso Caveoso districts as well as the Civita. The Sassi of Matera and the nearby Murgia Materana Park were added as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. This walk include closed-captions to help guide you through your walk. ????For an even more immersive experience, be sure to put on your headphones and listen in 3D audio.
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▼▼Video Timeline Links▼▼
01:47 - Piazza Vittorio Veneto
02:59 - Palombaro Lungo
03:55 - Belvedere Luigi Guerricchio (Terrace view of the Sassi)
07:01 - Steps down into the Sasso Barisano
15:09 - The Sassi in Miniature
21:05 - Convent of Saint Agostino
25:45 - View of Chiesa rupestre di San Giuliano o Madonna delle Grazie
31:01 - Palazzo del Casale
42:11 - Piazza Duomo
46:11 - Piazza del Sedile
47:14 - Palazzo del Sedile
49:09 - Church of Purgatory (Via Ridola)
50:29 - Church of Saint Clare
52:10 - Piazzetta Giovanni Pascoli
52:43 - Terrace viewpoint of the Sassi
53:28 - Path down to the Sasso Caveoso
1:03:45 - Inside a Sassi Cave House (Casa Grotta di vico Solitario)
1:06:24 - Piazza San Pietro Caveoso
1:07:08 - Church of Saint Peter
1:12:42 - Walking up to the Church of Santa Maria de Idris (Rock Church)
1:20:04 - Necropoli di Santa Lucia alle Malve (Cimitero Barbarico)
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HOW TO TRAVEL MATERA | Italian Hidden Gem Destination
Matera is a hidden gem in Italy!!
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Matera is a beautiful city in southern italy, and it definitely one of Italy's best kept secrets!
Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, having been inhabited since the 10th millennium BC. Its historical center (called Sassi) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Matera will be the European capital of culture in 2019, so make sure that you go visit before then! There is no doubt that it will be overrun with tourists, but for 2018 it will still be relatively quiet =)
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Luxe Less Known - Matera, Italy, A Guided Tour
Sil and Marc take an insider’s tour of this 2019 European Capital of Culture with Southern Visions Travel's guide Ana, one of the city’s finest and most passionate tour guides. Join them as they explore the city’s most beautiful cultural treasures, walk it’s cobblestoned streets, and marvel at breathtaking views unlike any other in Italy.
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Matera Video Tour - Italy ???????? European Capital Of Culture 2019
Matera is one of the most evocative cities in Southern Italy. A village full of surprises, history and art. Rightly deserved the title of European Capital of Culture 2019. Discover all its beauties in this video tour.
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Matera, Italy: Exploring caves in the 2019 European Capital of Culture | Italy Days 4 &5
WOW, Matera is a gem! The history of this city is incredible–it’s the third oldest continuously inhabited city, a UNESCO world heritage site, full of cave dwellings, and one of the 2019 European Culture Capitals. We had the best day wandering around this city and touring rock churches at Murgia. It is unlike anywhere we have ever been and we hope you get the chance to visit this amazing city someday!
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Hi y'all! We’re Adam and Kathryn, an adventurous married couple living in a Sprinter van! You can often find us scoping out the best coffee shops, eating tacos, climbing mountains, cuddling our fur child Kona, and dreaming about Hawaii.
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Matera italy
Matera is a town and a province in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera.
Apart from an economy which has traditionally been based on agriculture, in the late 1990s the major economic base of Matera, and of surrounding cities, is the production of upholstered furniture.
The town lies athwart a small canyon, which has been eroded in the course of years by a small stream, the Gravina.
Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the Sassi di Matera (meaning stones of Matera). The Sassi originate from a prehistoric (troglodyte) settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy.
The Sassi are houses dug into the tuff rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia. Many of these houses are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi often are located on the rooftops of other houses. The ancient town grew in height on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now a small stream. The ravine is known locally as la Gravina.
In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. However, people continued to live in the Sassi, and according to the English Fodor's guide:
Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses of their ancestors of 9,000 years ago.
Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty, since these houses were, and in most areas still are, mostly unlivable. Current local administration, however, has become more tourism-oriented, and has promoted the re-generation of the Sassi with the aid of the European Union, the government, UNESCO, and Hollywood. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels.
The church of Sant'Agostino.
One of the benefits of the ancient city, is that there is a great similarity in the look of the Sassi with that of ancient sites in and around Jerusalem. This has caught the eye of film directors and movie studios. ( source Wikipedia )
Driving in Italy - Matera to Melfi Castle - Google Maps Guides us Across a Field
Driving in Italy - Driving the back Highways and small towns in southern Italy, from Matera to Melfi Castle. The 'adventurous' part starts around the 4 minute mark 4:00.
Google guides us off a great road and ultimately across a field on a washed out two tire track path. I am not sure why Google maps is programed to not discriminate between roads but it does make for some memorable experiences. Use the 'Speed' in 'Settings' to play this faster - Turn off the sound if you don't want to hear our comments.
(I used a Crosstour CR900 Dash Cam to record this.)
On the plane home I made this note about driving in Italy:
Traffic flowed
No road rage
No hostility
Cooperative
Aggressive
Giving
Fair
Assertive
Patient
Forgiving
In a symbiotic relationship
Felt like being in a family
Respectful
Helpful
Not much texting and driving, like they take driving serious
People were going super slow and super fast but most were going moderately.
Saw no accidents
Felt like we were all water flowing
Not a lot of stopping at stop signs
They stopped at lights
There no ownership of roads or lanes
I saw one police car in 1200 miles of driving
~~~~~~~~~
As to who should drive in Italy and who shouldn't:
If you’re music preference is:
Improvisational, do
If it is Classical, don’t.
When cooking or baking, if you follow the recipe to a T, don’t.
If you put a little of this and a little of that into a recipe, do.
If you are a hacker, do.
If you believe antivirus software will protect you , don’t.
If you believe you have to be able to do something before you try it, don’t.
if you believe that a part of learning is making mistakes, do.
If you see the world in black-and-white, don’t.
If you see the world in shades of gray, do.
If you ever order something off a menu and you have no idea what it is, do.
If you only oerder what you already know, don't
If you are territorial and believe in ownership, don’t.
If you get along collectively with people, do.
If you have ever used the phrase “he who hesitates is lost“, do.
If you tend to be a nice driver and let people into your lane, don’t.
If you tend to be an defensive person, don’t.
If you can transition between aggressiveness and giving, do.
If you were judgmental, don’t.
If you are forgiving, do.
if you believe in following every law & rule, don’t.
If you tend to think of rules as suggestions, do.
if you are a road rager, don’t.
If you believe people can cut you off while driving, don’t.
If you feel everyone should follow the rules of the road, don’t.
If you believe lanes are designed to indicate where cars travel, don’t.
If you sometimes like driving really slow and do it in the right lane, do.
If you believe there’s a speed limit and everyone should follow it, don’t.
If you believe the left lane is for passing, do.
If you believe there’s a speed limit and it doesn’t matter what lane you’re in, don’t.
I hope this helps!
Background Music by Jack Jezzro. It was an awesome soundtrack to listen to as we drove across Italy.
#drivinginitaly #jackjezzro #italy #ricksteves #europethroughthebackdoor #italytravel #travelitaly #matera #melficastle #google #googlemaps
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Matera, Italy, is one of the most impressive places we have ever had the pleasure of visiting. It is truly one of a kind city with a history that dates so far back that it is literally the third oldest city in the World.
But Matera is not just old and full of history. It is also extraordinary and aesthetically pleasing on a level where it's not possible to be in a bad mood. If you wanna bring back some romance in your relationship, Matera is the place to go.
It's not a coincidence that Matera is a popular honeymoon destination, but even if you aren't in a relationship there are plenty of good reasons to visit Matera.
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Matera Italy (voted the 2019 European Capital of Culture)
I'm going to show you how to visit Matera Italy in 24 hours. With an incredible food scene and cave hotels, it is no wonder that Matera Italy was voted the 2019 European Capital of Culture. I'm going to show you some of the best local food in Matera and where to find it. I will also show you THE BEST cave hotel EVER...and this cave is one luxury dwelling!
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Matera 2019: exploring the European Capital of Culture's top attractions
In this episode of Go!Matera, Euronews' Marta Brambilla discovers the projects at the heart of the city's 2019 European Capital of Culture year. …
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Guide Around Matera - Silvio Scocuzza: Sassi di Matera by night seen from Murgia Timone
Ultima luce dopo il tramonto dietro i Sassi di Matera con lo spettacolo dei Sassi illuminati.
Visit and Tour Unique UNESCO Cave City of Matera, Italy
Famous for its extensive cave-dwelling districts, the sassy, Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and completely unique. Walk, walk, walk up and down narrow cobblestone streets built over layers and layers of dwellings carved from caves.
Matera dates back to the Neolithic era...
MATERA (Sassi di Matera) – Italy ???????? [Full HD]
Video and photos in Full HD I have made during my trip to Matera (Sassi di Matera) in Italy in May 2018, including video footages and photos taken with my drone Dji Mavic Pro (in HD). The video includes the following highlights: town and streets of Matera, Sassi di Matera, dwellings dug in the rock, Cattedrale di Maria Santissima della Bruna.
As always thank you for watching and for your great comments!
Roberto from Switzerland (founder of the Swiss Travel Channel)
If you enjoyed the video, why not subscribe and/or like the video? ;) Thank you for your support! More videos to come!
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SwissTravelChannel is a YouTube channel of my holiday’s trips videos, taken all around the world since 2008. Some are for pure tourism and others are more of an adventure. The videos usually show the top best tourist attractions, the top things to do and top places to see. The goal is to inspire others on their next vacations. The videos can also be seen as a guide to have an idea of the main highlights and places to explore. I love to take pictures of the nature, traditions and different cultures, to search the must-see spots and show the essentials in my videos, for this reason I always try to create the perfect vacation. Traveling is more than a hobby for me, is a way of life.
Photocamera: Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 IV
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Editing program: Magix Movie Edit Pro 16 Premium
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2. Grass by Silent Parnter (from the YouTube Audio library)
3. Pink Horizon by Chris Haugen (from the YouTube Audio library)
Next videos to come:
Italy (Venice)
Greece (Corfu, Santorini)
Croatia (Dubrovnik)
Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Himeji)
Franch Riviera (Nice, Monaco)
Hawaii (Oahu Island)
P.S.: future videos will include more amazing footages taken with my Dji Mavic drone.
MATERA (source Wikipedia):
Matera is a city in the province of Matera in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera and was the capital of Basilicata from 1663 to 1806. The town lies in a small canyon carved out by the Gravina. Known as la Città Sotterranea (the Underground City), Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, having been inhabited since the 10th millennium BC. Its historical centre Sassi, along with the Park of the Rupestrian Churches, was awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO since 1993. On 17 October 2014, Matera was declared Italian host of European Capital of Culture for 2019 together with the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv.
The area of what is now Matera has been settled since the Palaeolithic. The city was allegedly founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC, with the name of Matheola after the consul Lucius Caecilius Metellus. In AD 664 Matera was conquered by the Lombards and became part of the Duchy of Benevento. In the 7th and 8th centuries the nearby grottos were colonised by both Benedictine and Basilian monastic institutions. The 9th and 10th centuries were characterised by the struggle between the Byzantines and the German emperors, including Louis II, who partially destroyed the city. After the settlement of the Normans in Apulia, Matera was ruled by William Iron-Arm from 1043.
After a short communal phase and a series of pestilences and earthquakes, the city in the 15th century became an Aragonese possession, and was given in fief to the barons of the Tramontano family. In 1514, however, the population rebelled against the oppression and killed Count Giovanni Carlo Tramontano. In the 17th century Matera was handed over to the Orsini and then became part of the Terre d'Otranto di Puglia. Later it was capital of Basilicata, a position it retained until 1806, when Joseph Bonaparte reassigned it to Potenza. In 1927 it became capital of the province of Matera. On September 21, 1943, the Materani rose against the German occupation, the first Italian city to rebel against the Wehrmacht.
Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the Sassi di Matera. The Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in what is now Italy. The Sassi are habitations dug into the calcareous rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia. Many of them are really little more than small caverns, and in some parts of the Sassi a street lies on top of another group of dwellings. The ancient town grew up on one slope of the rocky ravine created by a river that is now a small stream, and this ravine is known locally as la Gravina. In the 1950s, as part of a policy to clear the extreme poverty of the Sassi, the government of Italy used force to relocate most of the population of the Sassi to new public housing in the developing modern city.
PUGLIA 2019 ITALY - Roadtrip [Ostuni, Alberobello, Locorotondo, Matera, Trani, Poligano a Mare...)
Short video from 7-day tour through region Puglia in Italy.
I recommend Puglia to all visitors. Beautiful places, nice people, delicious food, cheap prices and magic landscapes! You must see it!
Here is the ranking of our favorite places in Puglia :)
1. Locorotondo - fabulous, the most magical place for us. Old town is like from fairytale.
2. Ostuni - white as snow, you will be addict from beautiful streets.
3. Matera - llittle frightening but amazing place.
3. Alberobello - like a smurf village, so cute!
5. Monopoli - nice beaches, less crowded than polignano. Water has magnificent colors.
6. Polignano a Mare - obligatory place, so beautiful but also very crowded.
7. Roca Vecchia - just look at the color of the water to fall in love with this place.
8. Trani - worth visiting, a little bit calmer than others. You can see there a nice marina!
9. Otranto - majestic beach with crystal blue water, a very charming place, good to see it.
10. Bari - big city life :) There is a many things to do but you must have a lot of time.
11. Leece
12. Brindisi
13. Barletta
Walking around Matera - Part 1
Located in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy, Matera is an old city with a young soul. The Sassi (a complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside) and the rupestrian churches of Matera were declared UNESCO World Heritage. The first inhabited zone dates from the Palaeolithic, while later settlements illustrate a number of significant stages in human history.
Music: Italian Medley by Gruppo Nostra and GUAGLIONE by Reno Di Bono
Shot and edited on iPhone XS Max.
Walking around Matera - Part 2
Located in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy, Matera is an old city with a young soul. The Sassi (a complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside) and the rupestrian churches of Matera were declared UNESCO World Heritage. The first inhabited zone dates from the Palaeolithic, while later settlements illustrate a number of significant stages in human history.
Music by street performers in Matera
Shot and edited on iPhone XS Max.