Many of them are really little more than small caverns, and in some parts of the Sassi a street lies on top of another group of dwellings. The Sassi are habitations dug into the calcareous rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia. 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. Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera". In 1927 it became capital of the new province of Matera. Later it was capital of the province of Basilicata, a position it retained until 1806, when Joseph Bonaparte assigned it to Potenza. In the 17th century Matera was handed over to the Orsini and then became part of the Terra d'Otranto, in Apulia. In 1514, however, the population rebelled against the oppression and killed Count Giovanni Carlo Tramontano. After the settlement of the Normans in Apulia, Matera was ruled by William Iron-Arm from 1043.Īfter a short communal phase and a series of pestilences and earthquakes, the city became an Aragonese possession in the 15th century, and was given in fief to the barons of the Tramontano family. The 9th and 10th centuries were characterised by the struggle between the Byzantines and the German emperors, including Louis II, who partially destroyed the city. Architectural historian Anne Parmly Toxey writes that "The date of Matera's founding is debated however, the revered work of the city’s early chroniclers provides numerous, generally accepted accounts of Goth, Longobard, Byzantine, and Saracen sieges of the city beginning in the eighth century and accelerating through the ninth century AD." In the 7th and 8th centuries the nearby grottos were colonised by both Benedictine and Basilian monastic institutions. In AD 664 Matera was conquered by the Lombards and became part of the Duchy of Benevento. The town of Matera was founded by the Roman Lucius Caecilius Metellus in 251 BC who called it Matheola. Alternatively it has been suggested by architectural historian Anne Parmly Toxey that the area has been "occupied continuously for at least three millennia". This makes it potentially one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world. Though scholars continue to debate the date the dwellings were first occupied in Matera, and the continuity of their subsequent occupation, the area of what is now Matera is believed to have been settled since the Palaeolithic (10th millennium BC). ![]() In 2019, Matera was declared a European Capital of Culture. Known as la città sotterranea ("the underground city"), the Sassi and the park of the Rupestrian Churches were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. ![]() Renewed vision and investment led to the cave dwellings becoming a noted historic tourism destination, with hotels, small museums and restaurants – and a vibrant arts community. Evacuated in 1952, the population was relocated to modern housing, and the Sassi (Italian for "stones") lay abandoned until the 1980s. Over the course of its history, Matera has been occupied by Romans, Longobards, Byzantines, Saracens, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, and Bourbons.īy the late 1800s, Matera's cave dwellings became noted for intractable poverty, poor sanitation, meager working conditions, and rampant disease. This area, the Sassi di Matera, is a complex of cave dwellings carved into the ancient river canyon. Matera ( Italian pronunciation:, locally ( listen) Materano: Matàrë ) is a city in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy.Īs the capital of the province of Matera, its original settlement lies in two canyons carved by the Gravina River.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |