Matera: MUSMAMatera is among the oldest cities of the world in the sense that continued settlement since the paleolithic is archeologically 'proven'. Its 'sassi' (cave dwellings) were included into the UNESCO world heritage list. No wonder that many filmmakers including Pasolini chose the city's 'biblical scenery' as setting for ancient Jerusalem.
When we arrived - already by night - we did not notice anything special. That was normal because the 'sassi' lay kind of under what is now Matera....When we enquired the next morning in the tourist office - that of Basilicata region - on how to dive into Matera by bike, the very competent and patient lady explained with a city map in her hands, well, you could perhaps actually do this and that small stretch by bike - but she also thought that the sassi were sooo....different...that maybe it would be better....to walk...to get slowly impregnated by the ambiance, the structure, the stones. We did well in following her friendly suggestion. And got impregnated. In the sassi, you can never tell for sure what is inside, or outside; what is excavated, or constructed; what is man-made or natural; what is urban or rural. Sometimes even the notions of 'above' and 'underneath' can get confused. The dutch graphic artist MC Escher did study trips in South Italy but apparently not to Matera - it would definitely have been 'his' city.
In the 1950-60s the government forced 5000-6000 people (at that time a third of Matera's population) by law to move out of the sassi with often precarious living conditions providing what was as that time considered better, modern housing in several new neighborhoods entirely built from scratch.
Concerning the programme as Capital of Culture we were a bit disappointed. Not much ongoing, maybe we came too early. The main exhibition 'ars excavandi' by Pietro Laureano failed to transmit (a) coherent message(s) trying to interlink as many as references to Matera as possible. The architect has the enourmous merit to be the /one of the/ main heads behind the preservation - and revitalisition - of the sassi and their listing in the UNESCO world heritage.
My personal highlight was the MUSMA museum exhibiting contemporary sculptures in a large cave system.
Matera: Sasso Caveoso
Matera: Sasso Caveoso