These two cave churches are dug into the spur of natural rock that rises towards the bottom of the Sasso Caveoso, known as Monterrone. Once you have “climbed” this small peak, via a staircase, you can enjoy an amazing panorama, overlooking both the gravina and Sasso Caveoso itself. Currently the two churches are connected by an internal corridor, and preserve numerous frescoes ranging from the late medieval to the Baroque period.
This was a medieval cave church dedicated to the Madonna di Cava, named after the farmhouse where it was located. In the second half of the sixteenth century, after a miraculous event, it was replaced by a completely built church, with the exception of the wall where the valuable late medieval fresco of the Madonna and Child is located.
The beautiful early medieval cave church of Santa Lucia and Sant’Agata also had a Benedictine female monastery on its sides. Two-thirds of which became a home during the period of overcrowding in the Sassi, only the right nave continued to be a consecrated church up to the present day. With an architecture enlivened by a series of templons, it still retains many fine late-medieval frescoes.
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It is the largest cave church in the historic center of Matera. The first late medieval structure is located under the floor. Expanded until the eighteenth century, at the beginning of the twentieth century the parish was transferred to the Church of Sant’Agostino. With the emptying of the neighborhoods, Sassi suffered theft of works of art and vandalism. In the basement there is a putridarium, which can be visited, where the purifying practice of decomposing the bodies of the religious deceased took place
This is the only tour without stairs. We will visit Piazza Vittorio Veneto, full of churches and monuments, and then head towards the Church of San Giovanni Battista and, then, towards the Palazzo del Sedile and the Cathedral. We will admire the Matera baroque style of the churches of San Francesco d’Assisi, Purgatorio Nuovo, Santa Chiara and its former convent, which is now the Domenico Ridola National Archaeological Museum. Finally, we will reach Piazza Pascoli, and Palazzo Lanfranchi, home of the National Museum of Medieval and Modern History.
The largest cistern in the city is located in the main square of the historic center, Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Excavated at the end of the nineteenth century by the Municipality of Matera to meet the growing water needs of the inhabitants of the Piano, it could contain up to five million liters of water.
This is the most requested tour. From Piazza Pascoli we will descend into the Sasso Caveoso area to visit its neighborhoods and reach Piazza San Pietro Caveoso. If you want you can visit a traditional cave house and may be a cave church, such as the ones of Santa Lucia alle Malve, Santa Maria de Idris and San Giovanni al Monterrone.