5250 x 3451 px | 44,5 x 29,2 cm | 17,5 x 11,5 inches | 300dpi
Lieu:
Matera, Basilicata, southern Italy
Informations supplémentaires:
Matera (pop. 55, 000:1991), in the Basilicata region, southern Italy. Site of innumerable churches, monasteries and frescoes, and ruins of unfinished Tramontano castle. Agriculture, textiles, furniture, ceramics, food-processing. Area inhabited since Paleolithic times. Founded by Romans 3rd century BC as Metheola. Conquered by Lombards AD 664. Ruled by Normans (William Iron-Arm) from 1043. Ruled by Aragonese in 15th C and Orsini family in 17th C. On September 21, 1943, the Materani rose against the German occupation, the first Italian city to fight against the Wehrmacht. Apulian-Romanesque cathedral built 1268-70, dedicated to Santa Maria della Bruna in 1389. Famous for its “Sassi” (lit. “stones”) or caves dug into the tufo rock, serving as houses and livestock accommodation, built on facing sides of a deep ravine. Condemned in 1950’s Carlo Levi book “Christ stopped at Eboli” as displaying the most extreme and scandalous slum-poverty lacking water and sewage systems, and rife with malaria; as a direct result, population of 18, 000 was moved by Italian government to adjacent new town. Since 1980s, development of tourism has led to refurbishing of the old town. Declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 as “the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, perfectly adapted to its terrain and ecosystem”. Used as location for more than 40 films, notably Mel Gibson’s “Passion of Christ” (2004).
