Matera is located on the Murgia tableland among quarries, "gravine" (canyons/ravines) and plateaus. The ravines are deep, spectacular gorges carved over millennia by the erosive action of rivers in the limestone terrain, in whose terraced slopes have been found many archaeologal findings dated back to Paleolithic times.

The city is known worldwide for the urban layout of the “Sassi”, unique in its kind. The Sassi, which meaning is “stones”, represent the old part of the town, carved in to the limestone, improperly called “tufa.”
They form a primordial way of living in caves evolved into today’s urban development. They are made up of closely tucked homes that shape a maze of staircases and courtyards. They conceal streets, alleys, arches, towers, gardens, terraces and caves, that were often shared with animals and used as dwellings until the ‘50s.

After a long period of complete abandon between the '60s and the '80s of last century, the Sassi from being an almost forgotten ghost town have come back to a new life thanks to a long and meticulous restoration, together with a rediscovery of their history and of their traditions. Declared Unesco World Heritage in 1993 and European Capital of the Culture for 2019 Matera is proud to welcome you as its guests to be fully enjoyed!

In the last decades Matera has been chosen as a natural movie set for more than 40 italian and international movies, such as “Il Vangelo secondo Matteo ("The Gospel according to Matthew”) directed by Pierpaolo Pasolini (1964), "C'era una volta" ("Once upon a time") directed by Francesco Rosi (1967), "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli" ("Chirst stopped at Eboli") directed by Francesco Rosi (1979), "King David" directed by Bruce Beresford (1986), “The Passion” directed by Mel Gibson (2003), the remake of "Ben Hur" directed by Timur Bekmambetov (2015), "Wonder Woman" directed by Patty Jenkins (2017) and "The story of Mary Magdalene" directed by Garth Davis (2017), 007 James Bond "No time to die" directed by Cary Fukunaga (2020) and much more, turning Matera into an international tourist destination and movie set.

The following itineraris can all be tailored and you can combine them according to your needs. Please do contact me to help you arranging your journey and make it unique!