European Capital of Culture 2019

At 10,000 years old, Matera is the third most ancient city in the world. It is called the “Città dei Sassi” (city of stones) because of its labyrinthine grottoes and cave houses cut into the soft tufa rock. Many of these were inhabited from the Bronze Age through to the 1950s without interruption.
 
Made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, Matera is a unique, vibrant and fast-developing city. Its ancient cave-dwellings have become luxury hotels, boutiques and shops.
 
In October 2014, Matera was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2019, an accolade already having a profound and positive effect on tourism and media coverage. Real estate is beginning to follow this trend as the world starts to wake up to just what Matera has to offer.
 
Travel writer Tim Jepson recently wrote in The Telegraph that the city is “a place undergoing a renaissance so dazzling that, even after years of living and travelling in Italy, I found it one of the most fascinating towns I have visited.”
 
Matera is often chosen as a film set because of its breathtaking appearance. It was the backdrop for Mel Gibson’s film The Passion. In 2015, the Morgan Freeman remake of Ben Hur was filmed there.
 

A Video Giving You a Flavour of Matera

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Matera, European Capital of Culture 2019