After I told you about my trip to Puglia, I still owed you an Italian travel story, the last one for this year. And so it went, that on one of the days of this trip, we ended up in the neigbouring region of Basilicata, historically known as Lucania. Perhaps not many of you have heard of it, but this region, situated between Puglia and Calabria, is also home to Matera, the European Capital of Culture of 2019. Indeed, not even I knew much about this city until its designation, back in 2014.
What makes Matera so special? First of all, it doesn't look like anything else in the world. Its rocky historical center, also known as 'I sassi di Matera' ('The rocks of Matera'), is part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1993, the first one in Southern Italy. The 'sassi' are divided in two main areas: 'sasso Barisano', situated in the direction of the road to Bari, and 'sasso Caveoso', consisting of cave houses, carved in calcarous stone, and probably inhabited since prehistoric times.
However, until the 1950s, Matera ended up being known as 'the shame if Italy'. Because, in these rocky houses, where nothing had been changed for centuries, entire families were living their lives in dire conditions. Can you imagine a small room, where a family of 10-12 members plus their domestic animals were eating, sleeping and living their daily life? Now we can, because these houses can be visited as museums, with guided tour included. Unbelievable as it may sound, this situation carried on until 1952, when Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister at that time, decided to move out the population of the rocky houses and started off the city's restructuration. The action was met with great resistance, but in the end all is well that ends well. Nowadays, apart from the historical and cultural value, many of these houses are also hotels, restaurants, shops and even homes, in spite of the high level of humidity.
Here in Matera I also discovered the creativity of the people in connection with... food. Matera is famous for its bread ('pane materano'), and the people in the past were so poor, that they invented the 'cialedda', which is nothing more than bread salad. A mix of bread chunks, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, herbs and olive oil. Talk about turning something as simple as bread into something that may sound strange at first, but I am telling you that it's delicious! And it all goes better if concluded with a small glass of Amaro Lucano. :)
Nevertheless, Basilicata has remained one of Italy's poorest and most remote regions, with under-developped infrastructure and offering very few career opportunities. However, it is hoped that with its newly-found status of European Capital of Culture, people from all over the world will start informing themselves more, consequently making tourism grow, and, at the same time, also the overall economy of the region.
My advice is to visit Matera at least once, and at least for one day. If you are looking for a place that is everything but common, with astonishing landscapes, and stories that will leave you speachless, here is your next destination. And of course, I wish Matera good luck with its new role, and to bring Basilicata and its people a well-deserved local development.
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