Matera.The Sassi.Italy

by Jennie Breeze

Title

Matera.The Sassi.Italy

Artist

Jennie Breeze

Medium

Photograph - Original Img_1503

Description

Matera is one of the most interesting, unusual and memorable destinations in Italy. In the remote southern region of Basilicata(also called Lucania),still little-visited by foreign travellers, it is a town famous for its extensive cave-dwelling districts, the sassi. Matera counts about 55.000 inhabitants, is located 400 metres above sea level and is 45 km from the seaside. Curious visitors can stay in caves, wander the lanes alongside the picturesque cave-filled cliffs of this fascinating place. Small lanes, alleys and stairways wind through the districts, some still closed off and abandoned. At first glance, the slopes might seem lined merely with small shabby stone buildings. But behind the simple facades - which sometimes extend outwards like traditional houses - the dwellings go back into the rock, cut out usually to form one large room, with a kind of ante-chamber at the back for animals. These parts of Matera are strange, quiet and picturesque; the pale rock makes the scene seem faded, colorless and timeless. In Matera and throughout this part of southern Italy, there are many churches cut into the rock of hillsides and ravines. These rock, or rupestrian churches - chiese rupestri - were mostly created by Basilian monks who were fleeing the iconoclastic persecutions in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries.

Uploaded

July 6th, 2015

Statistics

Viewed 313 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/17/2024 at 2:53 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags