Matera, Italy

This summer we visited Italy with my Mum and Dad and stayed a couple of days in the Ancient city of Matera in the South. I was blown away by this beautiful city, it is said to be the third oldest inhabited city in the World and people have lived in the Sassi - cave dwellings carved into the rock of the gorge for 7000 years. Due to clever engineering and water conservation they collected water from natural springs in the upper plains and rain water as it followed into the gorge storing in underground chambers and cisterns in the cave houses. The area is very hot and dry and without this genius way of water collection and storage human life here would have been very hard.

People still lived in the caves until the 1950's and even got water from the wells. But now the old part of the city is a collection of hotels, shops, museums and restaurants. 

With its cobbled streets and many staircases its like stepping back into Biblical times and although I haven't been folks say it looks a lot like Israel. 

We stayed in a cave for a couple of nights what an adventure and inside it was wonderful and cool and gave a welcome break from the pounding mid afternoon sun. 

Location, it takes a few hours to get to its a destination in itself.

 Its simply magical at night the whole town comes to life as people come out and hang out in the squares after work and the heat has died down.

 Inside one of the old cave dwellings, a family of 11 lived in this one room with their animals!, the kids were tired as it was so hot walking to this museum but worth it. 

If your planning a trip to Italy, please add Matera to the list it will not disappoint.

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