Matera: European Capital of Culture 2019

Matera is one of the most interesting, unusual and memorable tourist destinations in Italy. In 1993, it was named a UNESCO World heritage site and this year, is one of the two European Culture Capitals. After Florence (1986), Bologna (2000) and Genoa (2004), Matera is the fourth Culture Capital of Europe to be located in Italy.

Matera is one of the oldest cities in Europe. Only Aleppo, Syria, and Jericho, Palestine, are older. It was first inhabited in the Paleolithic Era which ended about 10,000 B.C. Back then, Matera’s inhabitants were discovering stone tools and how to hunt and gather. Farmers and shepherds first lived in cave dwellings called "sassi," which means stones. It has been continuously inhabited for the last 9,000 years.

The ancient city of Matera is steeped in history and is home to the famous Sassi, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back over 7000 years. While part of the town spreads out across the Murgia Plateau, the famed Sassi comprises cave dwellings and rock churches built on and dug into the sides of the Gravina Gorge which drops dramatically away beneath it. 

The caves of Matera had been inhabited for centuries; some humble and some smarter residences, but by the early twentieth-century the area was a by-word for poverty. Until the 1950s hundreds of families were still living crowded into cave-houses here. The squalor and malaria-ridden conditions became a national scandal and finally the cave residents were moved - by law - to modern buildings on the plateau above.

By the 1980s the abandoned caves of Matera were no longer scandalous, but fascinating reminders of the past. A few rather more well-to-do residents moved back and renovated old cave houses.

In 1993 the town was made a UNESCO World Heritage site, for being "the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, perfectly adapted to its terrain and ecosystem".


















And ever since, Matera has become steadily more popular as an off-the-beaten-track tourist destination. More and more old cave-houses are being converted into comfortable modern dwellings, into hotels, B&Bs and restaurants.

Matera was the one of the filming locations for Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ, with shots showing the sassi and the gorge below.

Matera's 'Open future'

Matera 2019's slogan is “Open Future!” and has five main themes: “Ancient Future”, “Continuity and Disruptions”, “Reflections and Connections”, “Utopias and Dystopias” and “Roots and Routes”. It includes two pillar projects: “I-DEA”, dedicated to investigation and representation of the cultural, artistic and anthropological history of the region; and “Open Design School”, a design laboratory, experimentation and interdisciplinary innovation.

In co-operation with Teatro San Carlo, Matera will also stage the first open-air performance of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana. Twenty-seven additional projects are also being developed with local creative communities and partners from across Europe.