Sassi of Matera
Nov. 2021
Coke, if you are looking for a new ad campaign, I've got just the thing!
My cute hubby
Putting the Sass in Sassi!
If this looks familiar, you must have just seen the new James Bond movie! There is a pretty epic car chase scene here. We watched it while we were overlooking the street and town and it was pretty awesome!
If you haven't scene James Bond and this area still looks familiar, it has also served as the backdrop for dozens of other movies including Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
Matera is one of the oldest inhabited cities on earth. "Sassi" is Italian for "stones" and refers to the cave-like dwellings that are carved into the surrounding area that have been inhabited for the past 9000 years. In the 1950's the government moved ~20,000 of the cave dwellers to government housing in town. Over the past 50 years or so, many of the sassi have been turned into hotels, restaurants and refurbished homes.
Verdict: I don't necessarily think you have to see this town before you die. There's not a ton to do after the initial couple hours of ooohing and ahhhing and exploring. But having said that, it's a really cool town with some fascinating history and I'm glad The Sassi of Matera and I crossed paths!
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