Matera Guided Tour – GT/MAT01

2h30      from 2 people    from €125 per person  Monday to Sunday 9:00am/11:00am/2:00pm/4:00pm/6:00pm     Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German

Included: professional guide, Rock of Church entrance fee, Sasso Caveoso entrance fee       Excluded: transfer, lunch, dinner, drinks, monuments entrances, personal expenses    Location: Matera

The first stop of the walk will be in front of the Church of San Francesco, located in the street of the same name. Behind the external facade in late Baroque style, the temple hides a much older treasure: a fresco depicting the visit to Matera by Pope Urban II in 1093, preserved in the ancient crypt of Saints Peter and Paul. You will then walk up to the Cathedral of Matera, dating back to the 13th century, and we will observe it from the outside. Built in Apulian Romanesque style, it stands on Civita, the district which, uniting Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano, forms the historic center of the city. These neighborhoods, with their typical houses carved into the rock and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, represent one of the first human settlements on the Italian peninsula! Walking along the characteristic winding alleys of the center, we will see the Rock Church of Sant’Antonio Abate and we will also get to know one of the many stone houses of Matera, to discover the origins of the rock architecture that distinguishes the Lucanian city. We then set off again along Via Madonna delle Virtù, until we reach the Church of San Pietro Caveoso, whose interesting history we will discover. The temple also surprises with its spectacular position: located on the edge of a cliff and close to a rock face, the church appears as if it were set in the landscape!