We are heading into an area of Italy that Rosie and the Operator have never been to before, uncharted territory. Puglia, into the heal of the boot of Italy on the map. This area is a three hour drive from Positano. The terrain flattens out and large ploughed fields of browny red earth appear.
Our destination appears, it is a large town, modernish in a chipped, flaky paint Italian way. Our sat nav takes us into the town, for once we are driving into the restricted traffic zone, when Rosie booked this place we had to give our personal details including car registration to the motel so they could issue us with a permit for the restricted zone and notify authorities so we wont get fined, fingers crossed that works. We are getting closer to the old town, the streets are narrow, bollards are popping up blocking access to areas and this town is a network of one way streets because of the width of them. That was easy our navigation tells us we are there….uuummm, no we are not. The hotel is nowhere in sight. Walking back to check, the street name is wrong, Rosie tries to ask an old nonna sweeping the footpath outside her house……she gestures and points in a sweeping general direction speaking in rapid Italian….Rosie nods and smiles and Grazias as if I understood every word, we wander off in the general direction she was pointing. Nothing. The Operator ventures forth to do a reckie, Rosie waits in the car. Ten mins later The Operator comes back, we are about 150 metres away from where we are supposed to be, the one way network makes us about a 5 min drive away we get there though and wowza!
What a view, Rosie has never seen anywhere like it, we were parked outside our hotel on the top edge of a gully, rising up in front of us was the most incredible village that looked like we had stepped back in time a thousand years. The colour of concrete, and boxy looking to boot, it looks like an ancient town scene you would see in a biblical movie. Amazing.
Welcome to the Barisano Sassi. This oldtown has had people continuously living here on this spot since neolithic times, it is one of the oldest towns in the world, around 7000 years of continual habitation.
The gully I mentioned is actually a limestone gorge, a combination of caves and man made dwellings exist side by side, most of the sassi consist of houses that are partly excavated out of the gorge and have additions on the front of them. This was also the poorest part of the town, there was no electricity, sewage or running water in the sassi and 18000 people were living here, in those conditions, up until the 1950s.
Matera was considered the shame of Italy and by government decree the Sassi were closed, all 18,000 had to leave the caves and were relocated into modern housing estates with modern amenities at the other end of the town. Because the government had provided new housing for just over half of Materas actual population…..they now owned the sassi, it has since become a UNESCO World Heritage site and is slowly starting to be renovated.
Our hotel is one of these renovations, there is only 5 rooms for rent and they are built into the stone, we are staying in a cave sassi that once housed a family of seven and their animals, all in this small room.
You can see where the TV is hanging, that was their fireplace, used for cooking as well as warmth.
We have such a lovely view from the terrace of the hotel, looking straight out over the sassi.
At night time the town has a radient glow to it as there is subtle lighting illuminating the gorge. We had another lovely meal on a small two table terrace overlooking the lit up sassi. Most restaurants do not open till 7.30…almost getting too late for dinner….Rosie and The Operator are always the first ones in the door,The bonus of us eating early, we get the best tables in the joint. and most of the places we go to are normally full by 8.30/9.00.
Rosie and the Operator wander around the town and visit the towns water cistern which was only rediscovered under the towns main square by accident in 1991. Some work was being done in the square and suddenly a big hole emerged into what looked like a cave…upon investigation it was discovered to be cave like, and was full of water. Further investigation revealed a 5million litre huge man made cistern carved into the limestone and completely sealed inside with terracotta which stopped the water seeping out.
It is the second largest cistern in the world after Istanbul’s. Every surface in the cistern was smooth and rounded, it was fed by three underground aquifers and rainwater from the top. The age of the cistern cannot be officially verified, as upon rediscovery of the cistern, ancient records of the town were consulted and there is no mention of it in recorded history. Multiple well holes can be seen in the covered over top of the cistern when you are inside it and worn rock from ropes being pulled up over the edge can bee seen. We walked down into the cistern on a purpose built walkway. The interesting fact is that none of the people from the sassi were allowed to use this well, the sassi collected their own water from the sky. The cistern was only for the use of the 15th century village that grew up around the sassi, the sassi dwellers even at that time were already considered slum dwellers and were not allowed in the ‘new’ area.
We walked for miles around this city, it is so beautiful, the main Duomo that is the highest point of the village is under cover with scaffolding, you can see the spire in earlier photos, it is being renovated. The top church (left) on the hill next door cut out of the rock is amazing, incredible isnt it. Then below it built on top of the rocky outcrop is another impressive church with the square in front of it.
Here is another view below.
Walking along the edge of the gorge on the newly renovated roadway there are so many small doorways cut into the rock, they have been boarded over or have big cast iron doors blocking access, these were the sassi dwellers homes from when they walked away from them in 1952…
…some have gaps in the doorways, Rosie and The Operator peeped in and took this photo…..incredible. This room is the perfect snapshot of when the family walked away…and how they lived.
Everywhere in the town when you lean on a wall and look into the sassi the ‘wall’ you are actually leaning on is part of a dwelling and a covered chimney will be poking up from the ‘wall’ you can still smell the carbon and soot. Chimneys poke up from everywhere, imaging what the haze would have been like when everyone had their cooking fire going, probably non stop.
Time for a break, Rosie loves the free snack with her afternoon aperativo. The sassi may be mind blowing but remember there is a 15th century town spreading out from the sassi, and it to is beautiful and elegant. Small squares are dotted everywhere, beautiful terraces and lots of small novelty shops and cafes. Different eras built new areas to live in as the population increased and the town has radiated out from the oldest part, the sassi.
Rosie and The Operator are so glad they have come here, we really feel like we have visited an up and coming place, Rosie predicts that within the next 20 years the whole sassi will be renovated and the place heaving with visitors. At the moment, the streets are still relatively quiet, there are no huge tour bus parks and the people we have encountered are friendly and obliging. The meals are some of the best quality we have had and the price is a third of what we have paid in the cities. Tourism is not obvious and that makes this place very attractive, it feels like we have found a gem off the beaten track. The total uniqueness of Matera will forever stay with Rosie.
Tomorrow we are driving further south to Locorotondo, its a small town, Rosie hopes not too small. We are using it as a base for a few day trips out and about and…..you guessed it, the weather is turning again…..more rain on the way. AS we drove out of town, we had one last glance over our shoulder…..
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