Day 17
Day 17 - Matera
Today we spent an awesome day in the town of Matera... A short drive from the hotel... Arrived at a turn of the century castle located on the outskirts of old town Matera... We walked down and around the areas called the "sassi di matera"... These two areas (Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano) are dated back some 5000 years, and consist of "housing structures" that are constructed inside natural caves.... I know this is hard to picture, I did not believe it either... However after visiting the area and seeing the actual structures, let's just say, I am now a believer! It was incredible, the homes are caves with modern doors and windows fit into the natural openings... Quite a sight!!! The rest of the city (outside the sassi) is built into and around the caves on the side of a huge hill. The city is referred to as the white city because all the buildings have a white washed outer exterior (they are made of a stone called 'tufa')... Again quite a sight... The city is so old and 'authentic' looking it has provided the back drop for many Hollywood movies... Wonder Woman being the most recent (Ross and Kevin: remember that scene with the fighting amazon girls?? I am sure you do ;) filmed in Matera.!) After a rather long climb, we finished our exploration of the area with the crown jewel...... it was a magnificent old cathedral perched on the top of the hill in the middle of the old city! We had such a good day we decided we will return again to roam the hills surrounding the town looking for more caves to explore... apparently there are cave churches hidden in the surrounding hillsides!
On a personal note, I have never been to church so often in my life..... and we still have two weeks left!
Greg (informed and reformed)
Italian word of the day: grotte which means caves - not sure I want to live in one, but still very, very cool...
Today we spent an awesome day in the town of Matera... A short drive from the hotel... Arrived at a turn of the century castle located on the outskirts of old town Matera... We walked down and around the areas called the "sassi di matera"... These two areas (Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano) are dated back some 5000 years, and consist of "housing structures" that are constructed inside natural caves.... I know this is hard to picture, I did not believe it either... However after visiting the area and seeing the actual structures, let's just say, I am now a believer! It was incredible, the homes are caves with modern doors and windows fit into the natural openings... Quite a sight!!! The rest of the city (outside the sassi) is built into and around the caves on the side of a huge hill. The city is referred to as the white city because all the buildings have a white washed outer exterior (they are made of a stone called 'tufa')... Again quite a sight... The city is so old and 'authentic' looking it has provided the back drop for many Hollywood movies... Wonder Woman being the most recent (Ross and Kevin: remember that scene with the fighting amazon girls?? I am sure you do ;) filmed in Matera.!) After a rather long climb, we finished our exploration of the area with the crown jewel...... it was a magnificent old cathedral perched on the top of the hill in the middle of the old city! We had such a good day we decided we will return again to roam the hills surrounding the town looking for more caves to explore... apparently there are cave churches hidden in the surrounding hillsides!
On a personal note, I have never been to church so often in my life..... and we still have two weeks left!
Greg (informed and reformed)
Italian word of the day: grotte which means caves - not sure I want to live in one, but still very, very cool...