A Weekend in the Walled City of Matera
Two nights in the cave-dwellings of southern Italy, where the oldest continuously inhabited streets in Europe glow honey-coloured after dark.
Basilicata, Italy · September 2025 · 5 min read
Matera was, within living memory, one of the poorest places in Italy. It is now one of the most quietly extraordinary. The Sassi — cave districts carved into the ravine — have been restored without being prettified, which is the rarer outcome.
Stay inside the Sassi if you can; a handful of small hotels have taken over former cave houses without losing the silence. Walk the upper town in the morning, descend in the late afternoon, and find a terrace facing the gorge at sunset.
Two nights is the minimum. Three is better.
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