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.
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
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.
Built at the behest of bishop Vincenzo Lanfranchi in the second half of the seventeenth century as a new seminary for young religious people, it incorporated the pre-existing Church of Carmine. Today it is home to the National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art.
Built in the 13th century above the ancient Benedictine monastery of Sant’Eustachio on the highest point of the Civita, the Cathedral of Matera is dedicated to the two patron saints of the city. If on the outside it still retains its original Apulian Romanesque style, thanks to repeated restorations, internally it appears in baroque style. If we consider the original thirteenth-century pictorial wall decoration, only the fresco of the Virgin Odigitria, the Madonna della Bruna, and the one of the Last Judgment, which are both attributed to Rinaldo da Taranto, are still remaining.
Rediscovered in the 1960s by members of the La Scaletta cultural club and baptized in the 1990s by Sgarbi as the Sistine Chapel of rock wall painting for its wonderful early medieval frescoes, dating back to the 9th century, this cave church was known locally as the Grotta of the Hundred Saints.