Kates Playground Cards

The Stones of Naples Matera

Matera is truly unique. Often traveling going away, hours and hours of flights to find something that can excite us forget, or not knowing that what most excites us is a few miles from home!

Matera is the natural setting in which to reconstruct the life of man from the Stone Age to the present day, as evidenced by the Stones, the old districts carved into the tufa rock, villages and stone churches of the entrenched Murgia, Ridola the archaeological museum and the architecture of the modern city.
's fascinating Matera watching from afar, so entrenched, it is even more fascinating to be inside and discover the vast urban fabric that includes about 80 churches, of which sixty are rock, a closer look at the thousands of cave dwellings carved into the rock entirely, the countless " neighborhoods "and the ingenious system of water collection tanks as" roof "and" bell ", the wells, and divers neviere. The sensation is like being in a crib and living in another era, and some great masters of cinema, Pier Paolo Pasolini in Mel Gibson, have chosen to set their films in this picturesque setting.

Sassi of Matera is the first in the world declared "cultural landscape" and since 1993 have been included in UNESCO World Heritage Site. Can be likened to a "giant sculpture composed of an intricate succession of narrow stairs, stately palaces and caves, arches and balconies, gardens and large terraces, carved into the rocky promontory near the Gravina, traversed by a deep canyon ' namesake river. The district
Civita, the oldest up area at the top of the promontory, dominates and divides the other two quarters, and Sasso Sasso Barisano Caveoso. La Civita is characterized by the Duomo, built on its acropolis, the remains of the towers metalheads, Quadra and Capone cingevanoe by the beautiful palaces.
Sasso Barisano extends north west of Civita, which overlooks the valley on the Cathedral. The Caveoso, south of Civita, although construction has significant buildings, the district is dug up and witness the rock churches, the cave-dwellings and numerous wineries.

Crafts and Fine Dining.
Bread of Matera (a PGI), the typical forms croissant, bread is prized for its fragrance, the fragrance, taste and the color yellow crumb. It is often used in the preparation of traditional dishes Matera.
also excellent baked goods. Do not miss the good wine that has earned the mark of red Doc Matera, a primitive nice, full and harmonious.
Craftsmen Matera, heirs of ancient secrets, create small and unique masterpieces working wood, clay tuff. The tradition of paper pulp and is linked to ancient religious cults, in particular the achievement of the triumphal chariot of the Festa della Bruna.
symbol of Matera is the whistle of clay called "cuckoo".