The Stone Town Matera

There are only a few places in the world where the yard of your house is the roof of your neighbor's house below. One of them is the southern Italian city of Matera with its stone houses, inhabited, as it is believed, for more than 9000 years. According to Hollywood, the place is so much like ancient Palestine that it was used to capture Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ." Matera is located in a remote corner of southern Italy in the small region Basilicata. It’s not the easiest place to reach which is why it has managed to remain relatively unknown, especially to foreign tourists, although since it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 visitor numbers are slowly growing and many of the caves have been transformed into stylish hotels and restaurants.From Matera’s train station we walked through the modern city of Baroque churches and graceful palaces. The best way to explore the neighbourhoods Sasso Barisano and Sasso Caveoso is on foot, roaming through the labyrinth of narrow alleyways, up and down uneven stone staircases, discovering dead ends and tiny courtyards adorned with flower pots, cave churches and expansive views of the sassi.Most of the caves are now homes, hotels, restaurants and bars, but on the edge of town in Sasso Caveoso you can wander through uninhabited caves and get a sense of what it was like to live here years ago.Matera is the perfect place to wander and get lost. Some people recommend getting a guide and this might be worthwhile but we preferred exploring alone.