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Matera ::.
MATERA Famous for the Sassi, dwellings hewn from the tufo stone and inhabited since Neolithic age. A unique, enchanting city carved out of the rock, formed by one of the most suggestive city environments, and now a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. Its caves and underground architectures are connected by steps carved out of the cliffs, enclosed by dry-stone walls and tiny gardens. One typically furnished sasso, this type of architecture, is the Sasso Caveoso; grottoes like this one were inhabitated up to 1952. There are about 130 rock churches, dug right into the tuff or built into natural caves. Many of these cave churches are ornated with Byzantine decorations and frescoes, the most interesting to visit: S. Maria della Valle, also called La Vaglia, S. Maria delle Virtł and S. Maria de Armenis. In others beautiful remnants of frescos of the 12th - 16th centuries have been preserved (Crypt of the Original Sin, S. Lucia alle Malve, S. Nicola dei Greci, S. Giovanni in Monterone, Madonna delle Tre Porte). Worth visiting is the Romanesque-Apulian Duomo, built with the white stone of the nearby Vaglia quarreys. It has a romanic facade and, inside, an interesting frescoed Madonna.The churches of Santa Lucia, San Francesco di Assisi, Materdomini, del Purgatorio were built during the Renaissance and, later, during the Baroque period. Other interesting sights are: the Museo Nazionale Ridola with objects from the Paleolithic period, Neolithic and Bronze Age ceramics, Apulian vases etc; the Museo Laboratorio della Civiltą Contadina (tools and reconstructions of artisans'workshops). |
Matera
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