Daily Archives: September 19, 2017
Styles Matera
On the right is part of the facade of the church of San Domenico in Matera, with its wheel-shaped rose window in classic 13th century design. On the left is a portion of the adjacent structure with Baroque decorations–five centuries separating each of the styles. That’s common in Matera, which has a wide range of buildings from many eras.
Gravina River, Matera
This is a view of the Gravina River, which flows through Matera (see posts below). You can see above some of the cave dwellings from the middle ages, these ones not yet renovated from their abandonment in the 1950s and 60s.
Matera Sasso Caveoso
This is a view of the Sasso Caveoso of Matera, Italy. Two sassi or ravines exist in the old town, the Caveoso and the Barisano, in both of which people lived in partly cave dwellings for centuries, continuing their medieval way of life well into the 1950s when the poor citizens of the sassi were relocated to the upper parts of the town, some against their wishes. In the 1980s people started to move back, and now the place is becoming gentrified and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tourists have discovered it and now nice hotels exist in what once were the poorest of dwellings. The place has been the location of many films, including Pier Paolo Passolini’s Gospel According to Matthew (1964; you can watch the whole thing on YouTube) and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. You can recognize Matera’s ancient sassi in the background of this clip.