Matera
Italy /
Basilicata /
Matera /
World
/ Italy
/ Basilicata
/ Matera
World / Italy / Basilicata / Potenza
city, capital city of state/province/region, interesting place, draw only border, UNESCO World Heritage Site
Matera had gained international fame for its ancient town, the so-called "Sassi di Matera" (meaning "stones of Matera") which is a prehistorical (troglodyte) settlement, and is suspected to be one of the first human settlements in Italy.
* The "Sassi" are houses dug into the tuff rock that characterize Puglia and Basilicata. Many of these "houses" are really only caverns.
* The streets in some parts of the "Sassi" often are located on the rooftops of other houses, because the ancient town had grown in height on one border of the ravine created by the "Gravina".
* During the 1950s, the government relocated most of the population of the Sassi to the modern city of Matera. People still live in the Sassi today, however. Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty, since these houses are mostly unlivable. Current local administration, becoming more tourism-oriented, has promoted the gentrification of the "Sassi" and the tuff houses are becoming more livable and attractive.
* There is a great similarity in the look of the Sassi with that of ancient sites in and around Jerusalem, which are as ancient.
Because of the ancient and primitive scenery in and around the Sassi, it has been used by film makers as the setting for ancient Jerusalem. The following famous biblical period movies were filmed in Matera:
* Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964).
* Bruce Beresford’s King David (film) (1985).
* Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004).
A memorable chapter on Matera, describing the really poor life of people in the south of Italy at the beginning of the twentieth century, is in the book Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (Christ stopped at Eboli) by Carlo Levi.
Matera is famous also because it is the best drawing-rooms production center of the world
* The "Sassi" are houses dug into the tuff rock that characterize Puglia and Basilicata. Many of these "houses" are really only caverns.
* The streets in some parts of the "Sassi" often are located on the rooftops of other houses, because the ancient town had grown in height on one border of the ravine created by the "Gravina".
* During the 1950s, the government relocated most of the population of the Sassi to the modern city of Matera. People still live in the Sassi today, however. Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty, since these houses are mostly unlivable. Current local administration, becoming more tourism-oriented, has promoted the gentrification of the "Sassi" and the tuff houses are becoming more livable and attractive.
* There is a great similarity in the look of the Sassi with that of ancient sites in and around Jerusalem, which are as ancient.
Because of the ancient and primitive scenery in and around the Sassi, it has been used by film makers as the setting for ancient Jerusalem. The following famous biblical period movies were filmed in Matera:
* Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964).
* Bruce Beresford’s King David (film) (1985).
* Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004).
A memorable chapter on Matera, describing the really poor life of people in the south of Italy at the beginning of the twentieth century, is in the book Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (Christ stopped at Eboli) by Carlo Levi.
Matera is famous also because it is the best drawing-rooms production center of the world
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matera
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°39'43"N 16°35'49"E
- Mount Athos (Agion Oros) 626 km
- Wadi Rum 2087 km
- Ennedi Massif 2556 km
- Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park 3457 km
- Arli National Park 3560 km
- Pendjari National Park 3594 km
- Dja Faunal Reserve - UNESCO World Heritage Site 4166 km
- Garamba National Park 4193 km
- Okapi Wildlife Reserve 4402 km
- Ruwenzori Mountains National Park 4637 km
- Electrical Substation 0.2 km
- Tramontano Castle 0.8 km
- Cemetery 1 km
- Solar field 1.3 km
- Stadio Comunale XXI Settembre - Franco Salerno 1.4 km
- Solar field 1.5 km
- Solar field 1.5 km
- "Light" Sport Center 2.2 km
- Matera Municipality 2.3 km
- Basilicata 45 km
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