Exploring Matera

We decided to let Google explain Matera, so here it is.

Quote

Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera". The Sassi (Italian for stones) 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 limestone. 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.

Until the late 1980s the Sassi was still considered an area of poverty, since its dwellings were, and in most cases still are, uninhabitable and dangerous. The present local administration, however, has become more tourism-orientated, and it has promoted the regeneration of the Sassi as a picturesque touristic attraction with the aid of the Italian government, UNESCO, and Hollywood. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs and hotels there, and the city is amongst the fastest growing in Italy.

Unquote

First up, sunrise over the town, with the hotel cat....

...then breakfast on the terrace

As luck would have it we were in town for the annual Festa Della Bruna. There was lots happening all day. We happened upon a morning parade. There were shepherds and a donkey in Main Street...

As well as beautifully groomed horses and their mounts..

..then the procession itself with uniformed escorts and a marching band 

Anyway, that was just the preliminaries, the main event was to come later in the evening

We decided a guided walking tour was in order and we assembled at Chiesa San Pietro Caveoso, an 11th century church upgraded in baroque style in the 1500s

A painted wooden roof done by local artists in 1540 

Lots of frescos

The old sassi and la gravina 

Nearly all the sassi are now owned by the government, after the exclusion, many are simply closed of and unrestored, some are rented and turned into shops, and hotels 

A line of typical,old sassi

Inside of a “typical” sassi

The chamber pot, contents traditionally thrown into the street 

The animals lived with the family, in this case in a room at the back 

A workshop in another sassi, making ceramic whistles and roosters. The roosters were in all homes, facing the door to ward off bad luck 

We explored the area quite extensively, learning about the lives of the people, the water collection in cisterns and the gradual evolution from caves, to block houses to palazzi. A totally unrestored areaof sassi

Unrestored interiors

Higher level stone block house with water collecting guttering supported by animal bones 

Lived in upper level sassi, some people not living with animals were allowed to remain in their houses 

The chimney from a common bake house

Another panorama 

Escaping the heat 

Back at the top, the Duomo

We retreated to our room for the afternoon, venturing out to the terrace about 6 pm for a drink

We hit the streets about 7 pm, still 31 degrees. There were huge crowds in the streets everywhere waiting for the lights and  evening parade 

We wandered a little waiting, checking out a few sights, like Chiesa Giovanna Bautista 

 

Another angle of the  city view 

More street architecture 

Eventually the lights came on and the procession passed. Unfortunately this was as close as we could get

This is what it looks like thanks to Google 

Then thanks to our TV, the float entering the Piazza 

Then the float is ripped apart as the crowd fights for souvenir pieces 

Then to cap it off, from 1245 am to 0130 am, fireworks over the surrounding hills

All well and good in normal circumstances, but not when you have to get up at 7am the next morning!