Looking for James Bond in Matera

Thursday October 28 was another beautiful day with a high of 19C.  With the exception of a few days at the beginning of our time in Puglia, the weather has been wonderful and almost summer like during the day, though it does cool down at night.  It is going to be very difficult to return to cold weather in Toronto. 

Morning photo of our street in Bari

Passing the University in the centre of town- en route to the train station

We caught the 9:47 a.m. train to Matera.   We travelled on a very comfortable train, but it was a milk run taking just under two hours to get there.  Lots of olive trees for Alonso to be mesmerzed by.

Olive trees

We were totally amazed to find that the Matera train station was a VERY modern one.  I checked later and found that it was just built in 2017-18.  This makes sense as Matera was the 2019 European Cultural Capital.  Matera has a permanent population of about 60,000 people.

The new train station

Matera has a fascinating history.  It is located in the small region of Basilicata (our only stop outside of Puglia).  It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in history dating back to the Palaeolithic period.  One can actually see some of the Neolithic caves where people lived 7000 years ago.  Matera is known as the city of caves.  Until the 1950s, Matera was a source of shame for Italy. It was a place of poverty, malaria, and high rates of infant mortality, where people lived in caves without electricity, running water or sewage.  

Carlo Levi's book Christ Stopped at Eboli, published in 1945, raised awareness of the desperate conditions people were living in.  About half of the 30,000 Sassi inhabitants were forcibly moved to new homes in a newly created neighbourhood on the western outskirts of the city between 1953 and 1968.  They pleaded to return and by 1986, those who agreed to restore the Sassi with their own money were allowed to return.

The Sassi ("the stones") houses are the highlight of Matera. The houses were carved out of rock and are piled atop one another.   There are two neighbourhoods- Sasso Barisano and Sasso Caveoso, the latter being the older section largely made up of cave-houses.  Matera was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.  UNESCO described it was the "most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region".  Today many of the cave dwellings house shops, cafes, restaurants and hotels, though people also live in the neighbourhoods.

Matera has become a setting for films.  The first was The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) by Pier Paolo Pasolini, who said that he found in Matera those places and faces that went lost in Palestine.  The 2004 Mel Gibson film The Passion of the Christ, Ben-Hur (2016) and a number of other films were shot in Matera.  More recently, the opening sequence of the new James Bond film, No Time to Die was shot here.  I'm going to try and add a brief video to the blog.  Hope it works.  

There was a lovely 10 minute walk from the Train Station through the newer part of town, before reaching the Sassi neighbourhoods.  Lots of bakeries and lovely shops.  Matera is known for its bread and other regional specialties.

We stopped at a bakery to get a cornetto.  We were worried that the woman in front of us was buying the remaining few.  It turned out that the baker was injecting the cornetto with the cream flavour she wanted.  When we ordered ours (lacrose pill for me), he asked us what flavour we wanted.  Pistachio, of course, (Alonso's favourite and mine too).  He injected the cream right then---- only 1 euro each!

Outside the bakery 

Adding the pistachio cream while we waited

One of the first things we saw was a poster for the Matera Film Festival which took place earlier in October-- David Cronenberg was the Special Guest (Canadian Content!)  

Poster for Matera Film Fest

Piazza Vittorio Veneto- main square with Tourist office

We sat in the sun and had our cornetti and then got our first glimpse of the sassi in the Sasso Barisano (more traditional stone house district).  There is a great lookout from the  Piazza Vittorio Veneto.

View of Sasso Barisano neighbourhood

Another view

Totally amazing 

There seemed to be a Dali exhibit in town and replicas of a number of his works were on display around town.  This piece was in the main square.

UNESCO plaque

After checking out the lookout, we walked to Sasso Caveoso (the older cave-house area).  We first passed a number of churches and museums.

Chiesa E Convento San Francesco d'Assisi - 13th century

Chiesa del Purgatorio (Church of Purgatory)  1725-47

Sculls and skeletons are everywhere in this church.  It, like other "purgatory churches", was constructed as a place for people to pray for the souls trapped in limbo between heaven and hell.

Door with 36 squares- four skulls of nobles and clergymen and just under these, four skulls representing common people.  Bones also adorn other squares 

Inside the church.  Paintings representing the souls stuck in purgatory and various saints.

Surrealist Piano- one of Dali's major iconoclastic symbols

We passed the Museo Nazionale di Matera that had an exhibit linked to the 2021 Matera Film Festival entitled: La Nuova carne.  Il fumetto italiano omaggia il cinema di David Cronenberg.  If we had been in Matera longer, or if it wasn't such a beautiful day, we would have gone in. Lots of Italian artist's paying homage to Cronenberg.

Outside the Museum

Poster for the exhibit

We then came to the lookout for the Sasso Caveoso district where there is evidence that people lived there as early as 7000 B.C.

First look

Another view

San Giovanni in Monterrone and Santa Maria De Idris-- two churches almost entirely carved out of rock.  14th century.

We started to walk down into the sassi area 

We think this is where the James Bond chase scene takes place

Another view 

Old homes in the rock

Another view of the churches

Slow living B&B sign caught our eye

My attempt at a panoramic photo

A most amazing place

On a street in the 'hood

Outside of a bakery

Lots of different homes

We passed a artist's small studio in a cav-- Studio 59 Art Gallery

The artist told us he had done a painting in the restaurant we were looking for and set us in the right direction.

Another artist making bread stamps

We stopped at Trattoria del Caveoso for lunch, a restaurant recommended by a number of people.

The patio of the restaurant 

The artist we had just met had a very interesting painting inside the restaurant .

Both Alonso and I had the delicious Zuppa di legume e cereal misti (a local pulses-based soup).

Delicious soup and a small mixed salad.

More sassi homes

Faded frescos in an archway 

Loved the name of the hairdresser-- Up in the Hair!!

We had a fabulous day in Matera.  Definitely could have spent two nights there, had we more time.  We took the 4:03 p.m. train and arrived back in Bari just before 6:00 p.m.   

Back to the Matera Train Station

We had to go to the Bari Clinic by 7:00 p.m. to get our molecular Covid tests.  Luckily, the clinic was only a 10 minute walk from the apartment.  The results will be ready within 24 hours.

We then went back to the apartment for a light focaccia dinner.