The first inhabited zone dates from the Palaeolithic, while later settlements illustrate a number of significant stages in human history. Matera is in the southern region of Basilicata.

Located in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera comprises a complex of houses, churches, monasteries and hermitages built into the ...

Evidence of human settlements in Matera’s natural caves, known as the Sassi, trace back to the Paleolithic era. Though it wasn’t all that long ago that the prehistoric caverns served as homes ...

Matera is most famous for the "Sassi," ancient cave dwellings carved into the limestone rocks. These cave homes are believed to be among the first human settlements in Italy, with evidence of ...