Matera and sassi
A long drive across the Italian peninsula on Tuesday brought us to Matera, an ancient town in Basilicata now noted for its sassi – dwellings excavated from the limestone caves dotting a deeply etched canyon. It’s an otherworldly sight, unlike anywhere we’ve been before. Evoking ancient ways with stone pathways creating a labyrinth of alleys, and winding stairs, it’s not too hard to imagine people living here long ago. An echo of poverty and reminder of terrible conditions exists, too; the 15, 000+ people who were forcibly removed from the sassi in the early 1950’s for ‘decent’ housing apparently were living by that time in disease-ridden and squalid conditions, according to our guidebooks. Matera’s sassi are now a UNESCO World Heritage site, and are being rehabilitated by affluent residents, peopled by hotels and cafes, and signposted for tourists like us. On a gray, overcast day, however, when the pathways were largely empty, it was easy to think of the people who had lived here ove...