Its original name is the Natural Historical Archaeological Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera and covers a territorial extension of approximately eight thousand hectares. Its area is located between the districts located between the S.S. 7, the S.P. Matera-Ginosa-Montescaglioso and the S.S. 175. To the west of Matera the Park continues to extend along a strip along the Gravina di Picciano, which starts from the hill of the same name, up to the confluence of the Bradano river. Therefore, it includes the territory of the Gravina di Matera, about twenty kilometers long, and crossed by the Gravina Torrent of the same name, reaching the hill of Montescaglioso. The districts of the Park are: Tufare, Murgecchia, Murgia Timone, Acito San Campo, Trasano Conca d’Aglio, Murgia Alvino, Bosco del Comune, Selva Malvezzi, Bosco di Lucignano, l’Annunziata, Selva Venusio, Murgia Sant’Agnese, Lamaquacchiola , Agna Ofra, Murgia di Sant’Andrea, Madonna della Murgia.
The Park is characterized by the presence of many interesting flora and fauna species, but also by numerous archaeological emergencies, which testify to human presence since prehistoric times: there are remains of fortified villages from the Neolithic period, in Murgecchia, in Murgia Timone, in Tirlecchia, and some sites, such as the Grotta dei Pistrelli, where human presence has been attested since the Paleolithic period. It is located between the districts of Ofra and Serra Sant’Angelo, on the edge of the Agna Le Piane district, immediately behind the Gravina di Matera, on the western side, where the city is located. Scattered throughout the Park area, the many cave houses and rock churches date back to the medieval period, while the farms, the jazzi, and the quarries generally date back to a relatively more recent past, that is, to the eighteenth century.
