Monday 29 November 2021

November 29, 2021: Matera, Italy

It seems we are doing okay weather wise on this journey, during our travel days is when we get the rain and today was no different. We headed out of Villapiano this morning after our 11:00 am check out time and headed the 2 hours to Matera. Our accommodation last night was good, not great but good, it was quite and comfortable, the breakfast was okay, come on we had to make our own coffees with a few croissants and some other packaged treats. I could see that in season this place would be happening but like many of our other accommodations we were the only guests. This goes for the same here in Matera, we are the only guests in this Sassi,  Le Dimore Dell’ Idris, which is fine with us, it just makes it so quiet and inactive.


Matera itself dates back 9,000 years, yes the core of the beginning of Italy back in 7,000 BC. It is noted to be the third oldest continuously populated city in the world, after Aleppo and Jericho. The people here used to live out of the cave dwellings, called Sassi. Being here is like stepping back, way back in time. Mel Gibson filmed, The Passion of Christ, here and for good reason, just look out our window and we think we have gone back 2,000 years. For the James Bond fans, No Time To Die, was also filmed here as a part of that movie. Many of these Sassi are now stores, restaurants, BnB’s and hotels. We took the opportunity to stay in one and it is truly amazing. Very old meets modern. We are in like a cave with a loft and arched ceiling and very uneven brick floors, I will include some pics on this of course. Out our window you would think you are in Bethlehem, fantastic… 


We had a very nice late lunch, walk about, rest and then a lite dinner, well with dessert of course. Everyone we meet here is so very friendly and helpful, they go out of their way to make sure we are getting everything we need. We had another walk around after dinner before settling back into our cave, lol. Yes, we had dinner in a cave as well… A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…















































































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