Matera is unlike anywhere else in Europe. Tucked into a ravine in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, its two ancient districts — the Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano — are built directly into and out of the soft limestone cliffs, creating a honeycomb of cave dwellings, chapels, staircases and terraces that has been inhabited almost continuously since prehistoric times. Once dismissed as the "shame of Italy" for the poverty of its cave-dwelling residents in the mid-20th century, Matera has been transformed into one of the country's most captivating destinations, earning UNESCO World Heritage status in 1993 and the title of European Capital of Culture in 2019.
Wandering the Sassi at golden hour, when the tufa stone glows amber and the bell tower of the Duomo catches the last light, it is easy to see why Matera has doubled for ancient Jerusalem in films from The Passion of the Christ to No Time to Die. It is a city of layers — rock-cut churches frescoed a thousand years ago, cisterns carved deep into the hillside, and cave restaurants serving Basilicata's rustic, wood-fired cuisine.
Matera is also one of the signature stops of the Orient Express La Dolce Vita, whose "Eternal Stones of Matera" journey brings guests overnight from Rome aboard a train of restored 1960s carriages for a day exploring the Sassi before continuing on through Abruzzo. Arriving by luxury train, with the romance of the rails as prelude, makes the first glimpse of Matera's cave-cut skyline all the more unforgettable.
- ✦UNESCO-listed Sassi cave districts
- ✦Matera Cathedral and its ridge-top bell tower
- ✦Cave-house museum, Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario
- ✦Palombaro Lungo underground cistern
- ✦Frescoed rock churches on the Murgia plateau
- ✦Cave restaurants serving Basilicata's cucina povera
- ✦A signature stop on the Orient Express La Dolce Vita
Places to See in Matera
The Sassi di Matera
The UNESCO-listed old town is split into two quarters, Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano, a labyrinth of stone lanes, cave houses and staircases stacked into the ravine. Simply wandering between the two, and looking back at the city from across the canyon, is the essential Matera experience.
Matera Cathedral (Duomo)
The Cattedrale di Maria Santissima della Bruna e Sant'Eustachio crowns the highest ridge between the two Sassi. Built in the 13th century in Apulian Romanesque style, its soaring bell tower is the city's defining landmark and its interior holds a Byzantine-influenced fresco of the Madonna della Bruna.
Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario
This restored cave dwelling shows exactly how Materani families and their animals lived together in single-room caves well into the 1950s, furnished with period beds, looms and kitchen tools — a vivid counterpoint to the boutique hotels the Sassi now also contain.
Palombaro Lungo
Known as the "Cathedral of Water," this vast underground cistern beneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto was carved and expanded from the 16th century onward to collect and store rainwater for the city. Suspended walkways let visitors explore its cavernous chambers.
Chiesa di Santa Maria di Idris
Perched on the Monterrone rock spur, this rock-hewn church is partly built into the cliff itself, its interior covered in faded medieval frescoes. The climb up offers one of the finest panoramic views over Sasso Caveoso.
Rock Churches (Chiese Rupestri)
Beyond Santa Maria di Idris, Matera and the surrounding Murgia plateau shelter more than a hundred rupestrian churches hollowed from the rock between the 8th and 13th centuries, many still bearing Byzantine-era frescoes.
Parco della Murgia Materana
The nature reserve facing the Sassi across the ravine offers the classic postcard view of Matera and access to more cave churches and ancient shepherd paths carved into the canyon walls.
MUSMA – Museo della Scultura Contemporanea
Housed inside the cave rooms of Palazzo Pomarici, this contemporary sculpture museum juxtaposes modern art with centuries-old rock-cut chambers, one of the more unexpected cultural stops in the Sassi.
Food & Gastronomy
Basilicata's cucina povera — the resourceful "poor kitchen" born of a hardscrabble countryside — is at the heart of Matera's food scene, and it is now served with pride in restaurants carved straight into the tufa rock.
- Pane di Matera IGP — a distinctive, deeply crusted durum wheat sourdough loaf, baked in a distinctive lentil-seed shape and traditionally fired in wood ovens, protected by IGP status.
- Orecchiette con le cime di rapa — the region's signature ear-shaped pasta tossed with bitter turnip greens, garlic and anchovy.
- Peperoni cruschi — sun-dried Senise peppers fried until paper-crisp, used as a garnish or eaten as a crunchy snack.
- Crapiata Materana — a hearty stew of mixed legumes, grains and vegetables, traditionally cooked communally at harvest time.
- Lucanica (Luganega) sausage — a coarse, fennel-and-chilli-spiced pork sausage whose name is said to have given its name to similar sausages across Italy.
- Cialledda — a rustic salad of stale Matera bread softened with tomato, onion, oil and oregano, cousin to Tuscan panzanella.
- Aglianico del Vulture — Basilicata's robust, volcanic-soil red wine, the natural pairing for the region's grilled meats and rich pasta dishes.
Many of Matera's most memorable meals are eaten in ristoranti scavati nella roccia — cave restaurants — where centuries-old grottoes now hold candlelit tables. Guests travelling aboard the Orient Express La Dolce Vita can arrange exactly this kind of lunch in a cave setting during the train's stop in Matera, pairing the city's ancient architecture with its rustic, deeply flavourful table.
