Matera – The European Capital of Culture for 2019

Matera, Italy

Matera in Basilicata was the scullery maid that becomes a duchess,

the Cinderella that became the belle of the ball!

Chosen as The European Capital of Culture for 2019 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Matera was a town of abject poverty as recently as in 1950’s. Visiting the town was both fascinating and humbling.

When my partner and I visited Puglia in April 2016 we took a FAL train from Bari to Matera. I had good reason to be pleased to have bought the tickets the day before as the platform was at a totally different building. And despite my preparation it was not that easy to find from the train station. All the photos of Matera that I had seen concentrated on the sassi but so I was very pleasantly surprised to arrive first at Piazza Vittorio Veneto, a square that rivalled any other in Italy!

Unfortunately after we had a lovely lunch at a café at the square we missed the opportunity to visit Palombaro Lungo which closed from 13.00 to 15.00

So we meandered our way around to the sassi many of which had been converted to hotels or guest houses

The cave dwellings looked very distinctive and interesting on photos, but the living conditions must have been inhuman before they were transformed into a trendy tourist attraction