Matera

Matera is a very unusual and unique place. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, having been inhabited since the 10th millennium BC.

Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera". The Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in what is now Italy. The Sassi are habitations dug into the calcareous rock itself. The ancient town grew up on one slope of the rocky ravine created by a river that is now a small stream, and this ravine is known locally as "la Gravina". In the 1950s, the government of Italy used force to relocate most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. [Wikipedia]

Until the late 1980s the Sassi was considered an area of poverty, since its dwellings were, and in most cases still are, uninhabitable. The present local administration, however, has become more tourism-oriented, and it has promoted the regeneration of the Sassi with the aid of the Italian government, UNESCO, and Hollywood. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels there. [Wikipedia]

 

These photos are from outside of town.

 

 

 

This is what it looks like in town.

 

 

 

 

This is part of the path into the Sassi.

 

 

The brown door in this little tower (below) was the entrance to our hotel room.

 

 

This is the view from our hotel room.

 

 

We visited an example of one of these sasso homes. On the right side is a dresser (not in the picture) and the bed. In the back is storage.

 

 

On the left, coming forward, there is space for the animals.

 

 

Then the rented loom for making clothes.

 

 

Then the laundry tub and access to the water supply held in the underground cistern (directly behind the chair).

 

 

And then the kitchen.

 

 

This unusual church is outside the Sasso area. Notice all the skulls and skeletons. The first picture is of the door and the lintel over it.

 

 

The left picture below is of a post in front of the church while the right picture is of a piece of the exterior wall.

 

 

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Arborello

We stopped briefly in Arborello to taste some local wines and foods and to see the trulli. A trullo (trulli is plural) is a traditional dry stone hut with a conical roof.

 

These are some pictures from around the town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what the kitchen looked like.

 

 

And, as an aside, capers grow wild in this area.

 

 

This picture is of our guide holding a caper fruit, bud, and flower.

 

 

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Viesta

Our day started out with a boat ride along the coast of Viesta on the Gargano peninsula.

This is the town of Viesta.

 

 

 

This is a picture of our hotel, the Hotel Seggio. Our room is on the top floor (above the sign) in the upper left corner with a balcony.

 

 

There is a lot of limestone in this area ...

 

 

 

.... with lots of arches and caves, some of which we explored in the boat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This particular cave is called the "Grotta dei Pomodori" (grotto of tomatoes), so named because of the red anemonies that cling to the walls.

 

 

These structures, called trabucchi, are ancient fishing platforms, dating back to the 18th century.

 

 

After the boat ride we came back to our hotel for a pasta making demonstration.

 

 

In the afternoon we walked around town looking at the interesting alleys. There are often a few tables in the alleys associated with a local restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the view from our balcony after dinner.

 

 

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Hadrian's Villa

Today was a very long coach ride as we drove all the way across the peninsula from Rome to Viesta on the Gargano Peninsula, a trip lasting 8.5 hours. We did, however, stop along the way to visit Hadrian's Villa,

 

 

The villa was constructed at Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD. During the decline of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, the villa gradually fell into disuse and was partially ruined as valuable statues and marble were taken away. [Thanks Wikipedia] Very little remains today.

 

This is part of the wall that surrounded the villa.

 

 

This is a beautiful garden pond.

 

 

And beneath it were the servants living quarters.

 

 

As I mentioned, a lot of the villa is just ruins.

 

 

 

 

But there were a few statues (which are very similar to the ones in front of the Capitoline Museum).

 

 

 

And this lovely little pond.

 

 

This was Hadrian's private residence. You can just imagine the grandeur.

 

 

 

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