Matera was our last stop before heading home. It was on Husband’s original list of places to stay and he really wanted to see the Sassi di Matera, which means “stones of Matera”. The Sassi are houses dug into the rock and it used to be that the dwellers shared their homes with their livestock. Now, Matera is a modern city with the Sassi part having been mostly converted to liveable homes and hotels. It’s been the set of movies, including The Passion of the Christ.
The ancient Sassi
The updated Sassi
We stayed at La Locanda di San Martino. It had a lovely Thermae, though not as large as the ones from Ancient Rome with several rooms that could accommodate over a thousand people. Ours had a hot tub, sauna, steam room and a warm tub, which felt nice in the beginning but after being in the hot tub was just a tad chilly.
Image courtesy of La Locanda di San Martino website
Our room
The patio where Husband and I enjoyed a lovely bottle of local wine during sunset.
We took a little stroll after lunch through part of the town and came across the Cinema.
The local wine we shared. Husband saw the image of the Sassi in the wine while taking pictures and then would not let me drink out of it. It was my wine…so I drank his.
The Cathedral at night
I wish we could have stayed in Matera longer.
Hope you enjoyed these posts. We had an amazing vacation and I wish we had more time but I am happy to be home.
Ciao!
I've really enjoyed your posts. I've also learned about some new places to dream about traveling to!
Pamela – I loved your vacation too! Husband is more of an off-the-beaten path kind of vacation guy so Trip Advisor helped immensely. It was the modern version of throwing a dart at a map and going to that place.
I enjoyed your vacation posts too. I am a bit biaised because it is my country but your pictures really conveyed the vacation feeling. I have been to Matera too, BTW