Sassi di Matera

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"Sassi" redirects here. For the village in Estonia, see Sassi, Estonia.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
The Sassi of Matera
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv, v
Reference 670
UNESCO region Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 1993 (17th Session)

The Sassi di Matera (meaning "stones of Matera") are ancient cave dwellings in the Italian city of Matera, Basilicata. Situated in the old town, they are composed of the Sasso Caveoso and the later Sasso Barisano.


The "Sassi" grew in the area of Murgia Plateau,[1] extended between Apulia and Basilicata.


Panoramic view from the Canyon (Gravina)

The Sassi originate from a prehistoric troglodyte settlement and are suspected to be among the first human settlements in Italy. There is evidence that people were living here as early as the year 7000 BC.[2]

The Sassi are houses dug into the calcarenitic rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia, locally called "tufo" although it is not volcanic tuff or tufa. Many of these dwellings are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi often run on top of other houses. The ancient town grew up on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now a small stream. The ravine is known locally as "la Gravina".

In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. Riddled with malaria, the unhealthy living conditions were considered an affront to the new Italian Republic of Alcide De Gasperi.[3] However, people continued to live in the Sassi, and according to the English Fodor's guide[when?]:


Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty, since many of these houses were, and in some cases still are, uninhabitable. Current local administration, however, has become more tourism-oriented, and it has promoted the regeneration of the Sassi with the aid of the European Union, the government, UNESCO, and Hollywood. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels there.



Sassi with snow (December 2007)


See also[edit]


  1. ^ Info about the Murgia Plateau
  2. ^ History of the Sassi
  3. ^ Dennis Marks, speaking on the series Appian Way, BBC Radio 3

External links[edit]

Coordinates: 40°40′00″N 16°36′30″E﻿ / ﻿40.6667°N 16.6083°E﻿ / 40.6667; 16.6083