1Matera
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Situated in Basilicata, southern part of Italy, this UNESCO World Heritage Site holds the top spot as one of the storybook villages in the country. Also referred to as the “city of stones” or “Citta dei Sassi”, this village is also one of the most ancient towns of Italy. The ancient homes carved on caves are uncommon and eye-catching. It is a city of about 60,000 inhabitants that is located in southern Italy. Some, perhaps, have never heard of it, others will know it for its historical Sassi caves, which were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993. The grottos that make up the framework of this Italian city remind, curiously, to Gruyer cheese. Their houses are superimposed on each other, forming a maze of streets hardened by the passage of time. The beautiful landscape that surrounds this environment, the houses carved into the rock, the underground churches, the 12th century cathedral and its enormous history, have made it, along with Plovdiv (in Bulgaria), one of the two European Capitals of Culture. 2019. These cavities that particularize Matera, have their origin in prehistory. The locals were inhabiting this town through a system of maximum use of the land. The stone of the city was soft and easy to hollow, therefore the constructions were in the form of a labyrinth and an overlap.
