Matera.

What to do in Matera Basilicata Italy

Matera unfolds vertically across a limestone canyon. Your days here involve steady climbs across thousands of stone stairways connecting Sasso Barisano and Sasso Caveoso. Life moves slowly between midday bakery stops, quiet terrace lookouts over the Gravina gorge, and evening aperitivi around Piazza del Sedile. It rewards travellers who value ancient stone craftsmanship, regional rustic cooking, and walking without a hurried itinerary.

24 hours in Matera Basilicata Italy

Start early at the Palombaro Lungo cistern before the mid-morning crowds arrive, then wander the narrow alleys down to Santa Maria de Idris. For lunch, order Strascinati with crunchy cruschi peppers at a trattoria off Via del Corso. Spend the cooler late afternoon crossing the ravine footbridge, finishing with a glass of Aglianico at sunset. Select 1 Day above to see it.

2 days in Matera Basilicata Italy

A second day allows time to explore the rupestrian caves of Parco della Murgia Materana across the canyon on foot. Head back up to the Piano district in the afternoon to visit MUSMA in Palazzo Pomarici. Dine on slow-cooked Podolica beef stew and charred lamb chops inside a vaulted cellar along Via Fiorentini. Choose 2 Days to expand the plan.

3 days in Matera Basilicata Italy

With three days, rent a car to drive south to the abandoned hilltop ruins of Craco, or head west into the Lucanian Dolomites to visit the cliffside villages of Pietrapertosa and Castelmezzano. Back in town, spend a slow evening tasting aged pecorino and local olive oils at an enoteca near Piazza San Giovanni.

Matera Basilicata Italy itineraries by interest

• Sacred Architecture in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Explore rupestrian cave churches like Santa Maria de Idris and San Pietro Barisano, covered in ninth-century Byzantine and Benedictine frescoes.

• Local Bread in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Track down Pane di Matera IGP, a high-domed sourdough baked from Senatore Cappelli durum wheat with an ancient wooden baker stamp tradition.

• Hiking in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Cross the Tibetan suspension bridge over the Gravina river to hike the ancient Neolithic caves and wild thyme trails of Murgia Materana park.

• Regional Pastas in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Eat cavatelli and Strascinati tossed with fried peperoni cruschi, wild chicory, and salted ricotta in subterranean stone dining rooms.

• Wine & Vineyards in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Sample tannic, volcanic Aglianico del Vulture and robust Matera DOC reds aged in oak barrels across local cellars and enoteche.

• Underground Spaces in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Descend into the Palombaro Lungo, a massive nineteenth-century cistern carved beneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto holding five million litres of water.

• Craft Traditions in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Watch terracotta artisans handcraft the Cuccù, a traditional Materan whistle shaped like a rooster, along Via delle Beccherie.

• Cured Meats in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Taste Lucanica sausage seasoned with wild fennel and spicy Peperoncino, along with local capocollo cured in the hills of Basilicata.

• Historic Homes in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Step inside Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario to see authentic peasant living quarters preserved with original 1950s farming tools and looms.

• Modern Art in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Visit MUSMA, a contemporary sculpture museum set inside Palazzo Pomarici, displaying modern bronze and stone works inside natural rock caverns.

• Cheese Making in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Sample aged Caciocavallo Podolico and fresh burrata made from the milk of free-roaming Podolica cattle grazing the Lucanian Apennines.

• Day Trips in Matera Basilicata Italy

  Drive forty minutes to the ghost town of Craco or south to the Ionian coast at Metaponto for ancient Greek Doric temple ruins.