A glimpse of Matera’s Sasso Caveoso.
Walking through the narrow streets of Matera’s Sassi in Basilicata, Italy, I found this view of Sasso Caveoso, one of the areas that best represents the history of the city. Among the places to see in Matera, exploring the stone alleys without a fixed destination is one of the best ways to discover authentic corners where the houses seem to continue naturally from the surrounding rock.
During my visit, I photographed many different parts of the city, but these small passages between the houses were some of the details that attracted me the most. I wanted to capture this scene with my camera because it shows a quieter side of the Sassi, away from the most famous panoramic views and the better-known landmarks.
Sasso Caveoso, together with Sasso Barisano, forms the historic core of Matera’s ancient cave settlement. Walking through these neighborhoods, you can still feel the strong connection between the buildings and the landscape: stairs, homes, arches, and rocky walls seem to belong to the same environment, shaped and transformed over centuries.
The recent history of the Sassi is complex. Until the middle of the 20th century, these districts faced very difficult living conditions, far from the standards considered acceptable at the time. In the 1950s, a major relocation process moved many residents to new neighborhoods, while the following decades brought a long restoration project that transformed the Sassi into a cultural heritage site known around the world.
A small curiosity concerns the word “Sasso” itself: it does not simply refer to a stone, but is connected to the idea of an area carved or shaped into the rock. This perfectly describes the relationship between Matera and its landscape, where many homes were created directly from the natural limestone formations.
Today Matera is one of the most famous destinations in Basilicata, and tourism has brought new life to many spaces that were once abandoned. Despite these changes, walking through the Sassi still allows visitors to experience the layers of history, from ancient cave dwellings to modern cultural and hospitality spaces.
This photograph continues the story of my visit to Matera, together with the images dedicated to the viewpoints, Santa Maria di Idris, and the hidden streets among the stone houses. Each photograph shows a different perspective of the same city, but all share the same feeling of discovering a place built in a completely unique way.
Have you ever walked through the streets of Sasso Caveoso, and which detail of Matera’s Sassi impressed you the most? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.
Photo taken with a Canon EOS M100 camera and Canon EF-S 10-18 lens.
I took many photos in the town’s streets, click here to see them all:
The Sasso Caveoso, which faces south towards Montescaglioso, resembles the shape of a theater’s auditorium, with the houses arranged in steps. Inside there are various neighborhoods, districts and areas named as follows: u lammòrde, u paravèse, u pendàfeche, u mòlve, u chianèdde, u casalnàve.
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