Marvelous, Majestic, Mesmerising, its Matera

Matera is a place that is in Basilicata, southern Italy and was another reason for us coming to explore this area.

We started early and picked up Tony and Norma from Bari then headed inland and within about an hour we were parked and walking the streets of Matera.

It was amazing. I won't go too much into the history of the place as this is covered much better on other sources, but basically, it sits on the side of a canyon with a series of caves that over the last few centuries have been used as living quarters, storage and places to keep animals.

In the 1950s this all changed and the residents were removed from the atrocious conditions and relocated into the new town, but over the last 50 years, the caves have been converted to modern homes and accommodation, truly amazing.

Today was great to explore the old part of Matera with Tony and Norma, where together we were able to explore churches, souvenir shops and have some lunch with an amazing view.

With lots of steps to be done both up and down, we took numerous opportunities to refresh.

I noticed along with Tony that the old town had not much of a local feel, there were very few homes, no washing hanging out and no children in the street. There was also no small shops where local people could buy staples items and groceries. This old town had had a conversion, with many vacant buildings. Those that weren't vacant were B&B etc.  I am in two minds about this, is it a bad thing, or good?  Well on one side the local people have moved out and are now living in fresh modern parts of the city with safer streets and simple access with the motor vehicle. On the other hand, the culture and history of this little area have gone and been replaced with the accents of Germans, English and Australians along with hundreds or even thousands participating in organised tours. All these tourists are doing one thing, spending money.  Which is then helping pay for the upkeep of this place.  It is a place for a detailed conversation but one thing can be said towns like Matera have thrived on the likes of tourism and without it, I believe they would be crumbling around the locals.