Picture of Matera
Caption: European Capitol of Culture 2019 Matera
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Caption: Matera I don’t even know how to describe
the beauty of this city...
So let’s start with a little bit of history!
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Caption: Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited
cities in the world,
having been inhabited
since the 10th
millennium BC.
Its historical centre "Sassi",
along with the Park of the Rupestrian Churches,
was awarded World
Heritage Site status
by UNESCO
since 1993.
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Caption: “I Sassi” Matera is famous for his “stones” which are habitations dug into the calcareous rock itself.
So I had to sleep in one of those!
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Caption: But now let’s look at the city!
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Caption: The ancient town grew up on one slope of the rocky ravine created by a river that is now a small stream, and this ravine is known locally as “la Gravina".
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Caption: In the 1950s, as part of a policy to clear the extreme poverty of the Sassi, the government of Italy used force to relocate most of the population of the Sassi to new public housing in the developing modern city.
Caption: Until the late 1980s the Sassi
was still considered an area of poverty, since its dwellings were, and in most cases still are, uninhabitable and dangerous.
The present local administration, however, has promoted the
regeneration of the Sassi as a picturesque touristic attraction with the aid of the Italian government, UNESCO, and Hollywood.
Today the city is amongst the fastest growing in southern Italy.
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Caption: This is how it looks when the sun goes down...
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Caption: ...and the lights start to light up.
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Caption: I also had the fortune to visit Matera during the “Madonna della Bruna” festival, so enjoy the decorations!
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Caption: Then I decided to see the
sunrise as well...
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Caption: Lets’s finish with some food in this really unique restaurant!
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Caption: But let me tell you just
one more thing...
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Caption: Matera has been nominated the European Capitol of Culture 2019 I got to talk with some locals and they are really happy and proud of how their city has recovered from its difficult past so I invite you to take a look at the site
https://www.matera-basilicata2019.it/en/
and discover the events organized to celebrate this victory and to consider visiting it as soon as possible!
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Caption: Thank you so much
for scrolling
to the end!
Hope you enjoyed!
#CRESTcontest
#matera
#italy
