(Around Puglia VI:) Matera

Venue: Matera, Basilicata

Lens: Nikkor 50mm f/1.4

Music: Now we are free (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9zxany7e10)

Our next stop after Alberobello was Matera, one of the main cities in the region of Basilicata where we decided to spend two nights. As already stated, Matera is not really in Puglia but is fairly nearby so that it makes sense to combine the trip. And it truly is worth the small detour as it is probably the most memorable and out-of-this-world place that I’ve visited in Italy. The history of Matera is really unique: it used to be an extremely poor place where people actually lived in cave-like houses called “sassi” up until the 50es of 20th century. The medieval conditions were considered inhumane even by the government of Italy so by a state law the people were actually moved out to completely new neighborhoods. So the old town with the sassi was…