Pane di Matera durum wheat semolina bread, thick crust and yellow crumb
Durum wheat semolina, thick crust, shaped as a horn or a tall loaf: Pane di Matera has held Protected Geographical Indication status since 2008.
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For centuries people here lived inside the rock, and not only in the capital: the cave dwellings known as sassi are the signature of the whole province of Matera. It covers 31 municipalities and just over 200,000 residents, wedged between Puglia to the north and east, Calabria and the Potenza province to the south and west, with a stretch of Ionian coast to the south-east. Matera itself is home to almost 60,000 people.
Nearly everyone comes for the capital, and fairly so: the Sassi districts and the underground Palombaro Lungo justify the trip on their own. The province carries on towards the Ionian Sea, with Policoro and Scanzano Jonico, and inland to Craco, a town left empty after it was abandoned and visited today for exactly that reason. Pisticci, Bernalda and Montescaglioso make the easiest stops in between.
Towns in the province of Matera
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31 towns
Accettura Aliano Bernalda Calciano Cirigliano Colobraro Craco Ferrandina Garaguso Gorgoglione Grassano Grottole Irsina Matera Capital Miglionico Montalbano Jonico Montescaglioso Nova Siri Oliveto Lucano Pisticci Policoro Pomarico Rotondella Salandra San Giorgio Lucano San Mauro Forte Scanzano Jonico Stigliano Tricarico Tursi Valsinni
The best of Province of Matera
Matera 🏘 The Sassi cave dwellings, a World Heritage Site 
Policoro 🏖 The Ionian beach above ancient Heraclea 
Bernalda 🏖 A town planned in 1497 and Greek Metaponto 
Nova Siri 🏖 Dunes and pine woods below the old town 
Aliano 🏘 The calanchi badlands and Carlo Levi's exile 
Craco 🏘 The ghost town emptied by a landslide The top 20 places in Matera
Our editors' ranking: the area's most important places, drawn from the individual town guides. See the national rankings →
1 🏛️ Squares & old towns Sassi di Matera 📍 Matera Two quarters cut into limestone, emptied in the 1950s and lived in once more today. 
2 🏛️ Squares & old towns Craco Ghost Town 📍 Craco Evacuated in 1963 due to a landslide, this striking ghost town overlooks the badlands and serves as a famous film set. 
3 🏺 Archaeological sites Palombaro Lungo 📍 Matera Matera's largest underground cistern, a monumental five-million-litre reservoir rediscovered in 1991 beneath the city. - 4 Metaponto Bernalda · 🏺 Archaeological sites
- 5 Eraclea Policoro · 🖼️ Museums
- 6 cattedrale di Matera Matera · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 7 Museo archeologico nazionale di Metaponto Bernalda · 🖼️ Museums
- 8 cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta Tricarico · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 9 Castello Tramontano Matera · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 10 chiesa di San Giovanni Battista Matera · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 11 Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta San Mauro Forte · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 12 Museo nazionale di Matera Matera · 🖼️ Museums
- 13 Museo-laboratorio della civiltà contadina Matera · 🖼️ Museums
- 14 palazzo del Sedile Matera · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 15 Castello di Isabella Morra Valsinni · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 16 chiesa di Santa Lucia Matera · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
- 17 MUSMA Matera · 🖼️ Museums
- 18 Castello del Malconsiglio Miglionico · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 19 Palazzo dell'Annunziata Matera · 🏰 Castles & palaces
- 20 chiesa dei Santi Luca e Giuliano Grottole · ⛪ Churches & sanctuaries
Matera and around, on the map
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
🍝 At the table: Basilicata
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Tours, tickets and experiences
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Upcoming events in Matera
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In 52 days 📍 Matera
Living Nativity in the Sassi
📅 Christmas season, approximate dates
The nativity staged in the most evocative natural crib on Earth.
Feast of Saint Potitus
📅 Every year, on 14 January and 17 July
Tricarico celebrates its patron, Saint Potitus, twice a year: on 14 January and on 17 July.
Saint Maurus the Abbot, patron of the town of the Campanaccio festival
📅 Every year, on 15 January
San Mauro Forte celebrates Saint Maurus the Abbot on 15 January; the following day sees the Sagra del Campanaccio, an age-old festival combining pagan propitiatory rites tied to transhumance with sacred celebrations honouring the saint.
Saint Julian and the Maggio, the marriage of the trees
📅 Every year, on 27 January
Accettura celebrates Saint Julian on 27 January, but its most famous feast is the Maggio, an ancient arboreal and propitiatory rite held on Pentecost Sunday that brings into town the trunk of a Turkey oak grafted with the top of a holly tree.