Is Matera Worth Visiting? What to Know Before You Go

Everyone who talks about Matera starts with the same warning: it is too far. That part is true. What nobody tells you is that the city was emptied by law in 1952 because Italy was ashamed of it — and that 41 years later the same caves became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here are ten things that answer the question honestly. Some links below are affiliate links. If you book through them the channel earns a small commission, at no extra cost to you. BOOK WHAT YOU SAW Guided tours of the Sassi → https://gyg.me/IQyNI63a Casa Grotta cave house tickets → https://gyg.me/6yvg3vOa CHAPTERS 0:00 The question 0:35 What you are looking at 1:10 The shame 1:48 How people actually lived 2:24 The water underneath 3:00 The rock churches 4:00 Where to stand 4:35 The colour of the place 5:09 Jerusalem, on loan 5:46 How the caves came back 6:27 Do not stop at Matera 7:15 When to come, and the verdict IMAGE & VIDEO CREDITS All visuals come from free and open archives. With thanks to: Airin — CC BY-SA 1.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Aldo Montemarano — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Andrea Tomassi — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) ANTONIO TOZZI — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Antuang — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Art Anderson — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Bernard Gagnon — CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Bomawa — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Cristoforo64 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Dage - Looking For Europe — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Diego Baglieri — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) DinaBenedettoFerrandina — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) DinaBenedettoFerrandina — CC0 (Wikimedia Commons) Dominique grassigli at Italian Wikipedia — Public domain (Wikimedia Commons) Eli Cantatore — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Enric — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Franz Xaver — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons) FrDr — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Giandomenico Mercadante — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Giuseppe Cillis — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Gorup de Besanez — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Guidos24 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Hollowayvideo — CC0 (Wikimedia Commons) Ilaria Giuliodori — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Ivo Spadone — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Jules Verne Times Two — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Luca Aless — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Maksimsokolov — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Marcok di it:wikipedia — CC BY-SA 2.5 (Wikimedia Commons) Marmarygra — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Pietro — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Pietro & Silvia — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Pietro paolo palumbo — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Revol Web from Bologna — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Rocco Scattino — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Sabryardore — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Sailko — CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Superchilum — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Tiber1960 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons) Additional photography and footage: Pexels. MUSIC Cinematic Ambient — Kulakovka (Pixabay Content License (free, no attribution required)) Emotional Piano — MondaMusic (Pixabay Content License (free, no attribution required)) Acoustic Guitar — echoes_of_lumen (Pixabay Content License (free, no attribution required))