Today was all about the Sassi and spending most of our day in a cave or caves. A once in a lifetime experience. We woke from our cave, yes very well heated, and proceeded to the reception area and breakfast, yes in a cave. Very nice continental breakfast served with a variety of meats, cheeses and pastries, cappuccinos and juice as well. Very nice, very good. We then left our humble abode in the Sassi Hotel, Le Dimore Dell’ Idris and walked the few steps to the Santa Maria De Iris church, carved into the same rock that our hotel is part of. We visited three of the important sights today but unfortunately, no photos or video allowed. The other two, Santa Lucia Alle Malve and San Pietro Barisano all three contain original frescos painted on the walls, dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, definitely worth seeing these in their original locations but you’ll have to come here and see them for yourselves (okay, I snuck one or two in just in case you don’t get here). In the middle of all this we visited another original cave dwelling. This one was presented how it looked, are you ready for this, back in 1953, yes, this is correct. Many of the poor people lived like this in their cave dwellings, 11, lived in the one we looked at, 2 adults and 9 children - 3 of which are still alive today. In 1952, the government of the day had all these deemed, unliveable and evacuated all the residents to a newer part of the city into government housing. It took about 5 years to clear all the inhabitants out of this area. This area sat empty for many years until they realized the economic benefits of reviving the Sassi area to what it is today. I believe the year was 1993 when it was declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Interesting, when you look across the River to the other side you can see many former dwelling caves, yes, you can hike over to them on a well laid out trail.
Our other stop today was a the Dali Museum, yes, part of an amazing cave network, what a fantastic job of presenting his art here in this amazing setting. Definitely worth the visit and when you leave you through this iron door and when it shuts behind you, there is no going back, you are all of a sudden on the other side of this rock wall with this heavy door guarding it. So, yes a bit of a long day, cave sleuthing, the weather today, sunny but cool, a balmy 6 degrees, yes, there is a chill in the air. And yes, dinner was in a cave… lol, same restaurant as last night, delicious… A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…
