Matera Private Tours

The Sassi of Matera are two ancient neighborhoods, Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano, renowned for their unique blend of buildings and caves carved into the soft rock known locally as Tufo. Unlike typical urban spaces where constructed buildings dominate, in the Sassi, man-made structures integrate and merge with excavated environments. These are not natural caves, but spaces carefully carved by humans to obtain both building material for the exterior structures and underground spaces suited for various uses. In some areas, the excavated parts are visible at first glance, while in others, they are hidden behind constructed façades. This unusual urban development was facilitated by the region’s easily carvable rock, which also serves as excellent construction material, and by the steep natural slopes that provide rocky walls to carve into.

The result is an intricate, complex, and extraordinary urban core, extending over 35 hectares and spanning multiple levels. Here, streets often run over the roofs of the structures below, with a succession of over 3,000 structures that have been used for various purposes over the centuries. These include noble palaces, cisterns, wineries, olive presses, staircases, Byzantine, Romanesque, and Baroque churches, cave dwellings, cemeteries, squares, shops, bell towers, stables, courtyards, and hanging gardens. The exceptional nature of the Sassi lies not only in its architectural and urban uniqueness but also in its long and unusual historical journey, one that has evolved through all eras of human civilization and continues to change to this day.