Matera — The Sassi

The walk

A self-guided audio tour of Matera

1. 

   01

   Piazza Vittorio Veneto

   Piazza Vittorio Veneto is Matera's modern civic centre, laid over cisterns and passages at the upper edge of the Sassi. The route starts here because the square hides the water infrastructure and abrupt change of level that made the cave districts possible below. The piazza is free and broadly accessible; underground spaces such as the Palombaro Lungo require separate admission and involve steps.

2. 

   02

   Sasso Barisano

   Sasso Barisano is the northern cave district where built façades, roofs, lanes and excavated rooms stack along the ravine side. The route descends through it to show that the Sassi are a layered urban system, not a row of isolated caves. Expect steep ramps, stairs and polished stone; use signed public lanes and avoid treating private homes or hospitality spaces as exhibits.

3. 

   03

   Church of San Pietro Barisano

   San Pietro Barisano is Matera's largest rock-cut church, expanded over centuries behind a masonry façade with chambers and burial spaces carved below. It is included because the contrast between the street front and excavated interior makes the Sassi's additive building process easy to read. The façade is visible without a ticket; the interior has admission, stairs and uneven floors, and opening hours can change.

4. 

   04

   Matera Cathedral

   Matera Cathedral is the thirteenth-century church built on the Civita ridge, with a Romanesque exterior and later interior decoration overlooking both Sassi. The route climbs here because the ridge explains the civic and religious centre positioned between the two cave districts. The piazza and views are free, while church access follows worship hours and the climb involves sustained gradients and steps.

5. 

   05

   Piazza San Pietro Caveoso

   Piazza San Pietro Caveoso is the open terrace around the church of Saints Peter and Paul, facing the Gravina and the cave churches across the gorge. The route pauses here because the square gives the clearest ground-level view of how settlement, cliff and ravine fit together. The piazza is free and exposed, with strong sun and little shade; edges and connecting lanes include uneven drops and steps.

6. 

   06

   Santa Maria de Idris

   Santa Maria de Idris is a rock-cut church embedded in the Monterrone outcrop above Sasso Caveoso, its masonry front attached directly to the stone mass. The route includes it because the church makes Matera's fusion of excavated and constructed architecture visible from across the district. The exterior view requires a steep approach; interior access is ticketed, confined and reached by steps.

7. 

   07

   Casa Grotta of Vico Solitario

   Casa Grotta of Vico Solitario is a furnished cave dwelling used to interpret the domestic arrangement of a Sassi household before the mid-twentieth-century clearances. It follows the rock church to shift attention from monumental excavation to the compressed living, storage and animal spaces of an ordinary home. The museum is ticketed and small, with steps and crowding at busy times; the display is an interpretation rather than an untouched household.

8. 

   08

   Piazzetta Pascoli

   Piazzetta Pascoli is a Belvedere on the Piano, opening from the later town toward Sasso Caveoso, the Monterrone and the Gravina. The route uses it to look back across the ground already covered and compare the planned upper city with the irregular cave landscape. The viewpoint is free and relatively level, but it is exposed to sun and can become crowded around sunset.

9. 

   09

   Church of the Purgatorio

   The Church of the Purgatorio is an eighteenth-century Baroque church whose façade uses skulls, bones and souls in flames to make prayers for the dead visible in stone. It closes the route by returning from the Sassi to the later city and ending on a building whose decoration explains its religious purpose directly. The façade is free to inspect from the street; interior access depends on worship and current opening arrangements.

Frequently asked

Plan the walk

How long is the Matera audio walking tour?

Allow about 120 minutes. The self-guided route covers 2.3 km (1.4 mi) in 9 stops, including walking and listening time.

Where does the Matera tour start and end?

It starts at Piazza Vittorio Veneto, 75100 Matera MT, Italia. The published route begins at Piazza Vittorio Veneto and ends at Church of the Purgatorio.

Will the Matera audio tour work offline?

Yes, after download. Audio, stop text, images, and GPS triggering work without data; the live map background still needs a connection.