Matera

And finally, I got to the main event of the trip to Puglia - the town of Matera.
I knew approximately what I should see. My friends who have already been to this place told me something. In addition, my Italian friend Giovanni highly recommended visiting Matera.
Despite all the stories that I heard, I had no complete idea of ​​what kind of place it was. I imagined a city on a cliff or in some foothills. In a word, I expected some years or something like that. But when I was driving along the road from Alberabello to Matera, I did not see any mountains. Around were fields with beautiful olive trees, with cabbage, vineyards. Around flourished agriculture.
And already at the moment when I crossed the line of the road sign, which informed me that I was already in Matera, I did not see any mountains and rocks. That was weird.
The first thing that needed to be done upon arrival was to find a hotel and check in, so that after quietly going to explore the local beauty. Hotel prices in Matera were at a high level. The cheapest price in booking was around 60 euros. This is significantly higher than what we usually took at an affordable price. As a result, I chose a hotel for 80 euros, but very close to the historical center.
It turned out to be an interesting place. Hotel St. Anne. A large beautiful building on the mountain. Near some old fortress. This hotel, as I understand it, with a church bias. Nuns and various other religious figures often stop here.
Several of these funny nuns had very loud fun at night in the next room.

We quickly looked around the room and went for a walk in order to have time to see something before dark.

Matera is a city in Italy, famous for its historic Sassi quarters, where cave houses located on the UNESCO World Heritage List are located.

Matera is an ancient city. Scientists have found that the settlement on this site existed in the Neolithic era. Even in those days, ancient people used caves for life.
The city originated on the slopes of a river valley called the crevice of Gravina di Matera.

During Great Greece, Matera was a Greek city centered on Civita. Today, the Cathedral rises in the 13th century.

In the Roman era, the city was fortified with a wall, and numerous grottoes and rocky massifs began to be used to build village dwellings. So began to form blocks of Sassi. Since times, quarters have been expanding, the maze of limestone grotto houses has increased.

And as soon as we got to the old center, I fell under the charm of this place. An abyss opened before me, all covered with stone houses. And it was amazing how big the difference in height. So I walk along the street, turn to the side and see how the street leads somewhere down like a cave, and there, below, I see a stunning view of the old houses.