Matera, the second largest town in Basilicata, is situated on the high karst plateau of the Murge, in the middle of a vast area of clay hills and ravines. This wild and sometimes austere environment is one of the most unique and fascinating in southern Italy. The town still bears the traces of the different eras that have shaped its history. Ancient remains, medieval and Renaissance monuments blend harmoniously with country houses, baroque churches and modern buildings... However, Matera's tourist career is mainly due to the presence of the famous sassi (literally "stone") in its territory. The city is in fact known for this unique urban habitat that earned it a place on the Unesco World Heritage List in 1993. The existence of this troglodytic site, which bears witness to the great peasant misery of an era, was revealed to the world by the writer Carlo Levi, in his famous novel Christ Stopped at Eboli (1945). For the traveller who once arrived in the centre of Matera, at nightfall, when a lantern was lit in front of each house, the site appeared as a "mirror of the starry sky". The twelfth-century geographer Al-Idrisi found Matera to be "magnificent and beautiful"... Today, the city is also an active economic and cultural centre with a strong focus on the future. Matera has become an almost "bobo" city, where life is extremely pleasant and where the young and not so young generations find their place, chat in the street, exchange ideas and have a good time.

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Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista. Valeria73 - Fotolia
Église San Pierto Barisano. Mi.Ti. - Fotolia
Matera, ancienne
La ville de Matera, classée au patrimoine de l'Unesco depuis 1993, à visiter sans tarder. Muriel PARENT
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