The Sassi represent the ancient part of the city of Matera and the hub of incoming in Basilicata.
Developed around the Civita, they constitute an entire city carved out of the calcarenitic rock, locally called “tuff”, an articulated housing system, perched along the slopes of a deep valley with singular and surprising natural characteristics: the Gravina.
Built, elegant and articulated structures alternate with underground labyrinths and cavernous meanders, creating a unique landscape effect.
The overlapping of different phases of urban transformations on the original rough murgic morphology, the refined dialogue between rocks and architecture, canyons and bell towers, has created over the centuries an urban scenario of incomparable beauty and quality. Once the heart of the peasant civilization, today, restored and rehabilitated, the Sassi revive and leave you breathless especially in the evening when the small lights of residences, artisan shops and restaurateurs make them like a papier-mâché nativity scene.
Declared in 1993 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, they offer themselves superbly to those who visit them with a unique scenario that is an exceptional reference to the past.
*Photo by Marco De Lucia