Landmark
The Rock Churches of the Park
Matera · Basilicata
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Landmark
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Matera · Basilicata
- DURATION
- 1 day
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
Across the Gravina gorge from the Sassi, on the Murgia plateau, lies a park of some 150 rock churches carved into the cliffs by the monks and the hermits who settled here between the 8th and the 13th centuries. The churches are caves, carved and frescoed with Byzantine-style saints and Madonnas, and they are scattered across the plateau and the cliff faces, reachable by paths through the scrub. The most famous, the Crypt of the Original Sin, holds a cycle of 9th-century frescoes that earned it the nickname “the Sistine Chapel of the rock churches”. The park is the wild counterpart to the city, and the view of the Sassi from the rock churches across the gorge is the classic Matera panorama.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
The rock churches were carved between the 8th and the 13th centuries, when Basilian monks fleeing the iconoclast persecutions in the Byzantine Empire settled in the caves of the Murgia and turned them into churches. The frescoes were painted in a Byzantine style, with Latin and Greek inscriptions, and they range from simple crosses to elaborate cycles of saints and biblical scenes. The Crypt of the Original Sin, discovered in 1963, holds the finest cycle, with scenes of the Creation and the Fall. After the 13th century the churches fell out of use and were largely forgotten; the Parco Archeologico Storico-Naturale delle Chiese Rupestri was established in the 1990s to protect them, and many are now visitable on the paths of the park.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The Crypt of the Original Sin — the 9th-century fresco cycle of the Creation and the Fall, the “Sistine Chapel of the rock churches”.
The Church of Santa Maria de Idris — the rock church on the cliff above the Sasso Caveoso, with its frescoes.
The Church of San Pietro Barisano — the largest of the rock churches, with its carved façade and its frescoes.
The view of the Sassi from the Murgia — the classic panorama of the city across the gorge from the park.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
The rock churches are the wild counterpart to the Sassi — the monastic landscape that grew up across the gorge from the cave city, and the place where the Byzantine heritage of the region is most visible. For a visitor, the park gives the best view of the Sassi and the most atmospheric single sights of the city, the frescoed caves in the cliffs.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
The Rock Churches of the Park
The Rock Churches of the Park, Matera, Basilicata, Italy
40.6597, 16.6117
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Matera
THINGS TO DO
Things to do nearby
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Baccanti — a refined restaurant in a cave in the Sasso Caveoso, for traditional Lucanian cooking, book ahead
Trattoria del Caveoso — a trattoria in the Sassi for the local dishes and the view over the gorge
L’Abbondanza Lucana — a restaurant on the plateau for the cucina povera of Basilicata
Il Terrazzino — a family-run restaurant in the Sasso Barisano for home cooking and local wines
Regiacorte — a garden restaurant in the Sassi for slow Lucanian cooking, book ahead
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita — a cave hotel in the Sasso Caveoso, the most singular stay in Italy
Palazzo Gattini — a luxury hotel in a restored palazzo on the Civita, with a spa
Locanda di San Martino — a cave hotel and spa in the Sasso Barisano
Hotel Sassi — a comfortable hotel in the Sassi, with a rooftop terrace over the gorge
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
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