Wednesday 26th October 2022
Today we had a slower start to the day. Woke up and took our time getting organised to leave Sicily. We have definitely left many stones unturned here but it is time to move on. We set-off on our very big travel day at 9.30am. Today we will drive to Messina Port (80km – 1.5hrs) on the freeway this time, with a major wrong turn at the end which sent us 1km in the wrong direction, over tram lines and a few tricky turns. Maybe adding about 15mins to the trip. Anyway we managed to get to the ferry port and board with only about 10mins to spare before it was on its way. Pretty good timing as they only depart every 40mins.

The ferry trip only takes 15-20mins and then you are on your way again from Villa San Giovanni on mainland Italy. Right in its toe. We then, or should I say David, drove 378km more over the next 5 hours to a lovely little town of Matera. It was picturesque drive even though it was on freeway most of the way. It was also only 3 euro in tolls which is amazing.

Well we arrived at Matera after google giving poor directions to the Parking Station and then me giving directions to a wrong turn, which also took about 15mins to recover from. We laugh all the way, David thinks I am losing in the tally of poor directions but I think he is. Hahaha! After a 1.2km walk to our apartment which is located in the centre of Matera, 50m from the Duomo and its Piazza. It is the most amazing location. After checking in to our little apartment we headed out for a walk around the town. It was perfect lighting at sunset as we meandered through the rabbit warren maze of streets and alley ways. We also saw a trail over through the gorge to what looked like abandoned caves on the other side. It was a beautiful walk. The city was amazing. Once again we could spend a couple of days here but we are out of time. We made the most of the twilight and night to explore as much as possible, we will try to go fore a little walk in the morning before we drive our last couple of hours to Bari tomorrow.

“Matera is a city in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy.

As the capital of the province of Matera, its original settlement lies in two canyons carved by the Gravina River. This area, the Sassi di Matera, is a complex of cave dwellings carved into the ancient river canyon. Over the course of its history, Matera has been occupied by Romans, Longobards, Byzantines, Saracens, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, and Bourbons.

By the late 1800s, Matera’s cave dwellings became noted for intractable poverty, poor sanitation, meager working conditions, and rampant disease. Evacuated in 1952, the population was relocated to modern housing, and the Sassi (Italian for “stones”) lay abandoned until the 1980s. Renewed vision and investment led to the cave dwellings becoming a noted historic tourism destination, with hotels, restaurants and small museums like the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario, with period furniture and artisan tools – and a vibrant arts community. Nearby rock churches include St. Lucia alle Malve, with 13th-century frescoes.

Known as la città sotterranea (“the underground city”), the Sassi and the park of the Rupestrian Churches were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. In 2019, Matera was declared a European Capital of Culture.”