For Labor Day weekend Matt got a 4-day weekend so we headed toward the south of Italy.  Our first stop was Matera.

From Wikipedia: Known as la città sotterranea (“the underground city”), its historical centre “Sassi” contains ancient cave dwellings. The area of what is now Matera has been settled since the Palaeolithic (10th millennium BC). This makes it potentially one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world. Sassi, along with the park of the Rupestrian Churches, was awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1993. Matera is one of the 2019 European Capitals of Culture. Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the “Sassi di Matera”. The Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in what is now Italy.  In the 1950s, as part of a policy to clear the extreme poverty of the Sassi, the government of Italy used force to relocate most of the population of the Sassi to new public housing in the developing modern city.  Until the late 1980s the Sassi was still considered an area of poverty, since its dwellings were, and in most cases still are, uninhabitable and dangerous. The present local administration, however, has become more tourism-orientated, and it has promoted the regeneration of the Sassi as a picturesque touristic attraction with the aid of the Italian government, UNESCO, and Hollywood. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs and hotels there, and the city is amongst the fastest growing in southern Italy.

Several movies have been filmed here, including Ben-Hur and The Passion of the Christ.  We actually saw a movie being filmed as we walked!

I had heard friends talk about visiting Matera and loving it, but I just kept thinking it sounded like another old town that the kids would be bored in.  I was wrong!  It was amazing to see it, wander through its old streets, look at its artisans’ wares, and find fantastic views around every corner.  There were people from all over the world there, Italians included (and not too many Americans!) who brought with them a palpable feeling of calm, wonder and joy.  We were told to make sure we saw the city at sunset to see the way the colors changed to vibrant hues, and we were indeed amazed by the way it changed from brown to orange and pink.  The following morning we visited the cave dwellings on the other side of the ravine- it was a very hot walk, so we were glad to head toward the sea for the next part of our vacation!