I went to Matera, Italy, in December, and I’m only now able to write about it. Every time I sat down to begin, emotion would swell–unexpected, overwhelming–and I’d shut my laptop and walk away. Matera didn’t just impress me–it undid me. I didn’t expect a city carved into rock to carve something open in me, too. I’m only now finding the words.

Matera is a city carved into cliffs, filled with winding alleys, ancient caves, and approximately one million stairs…

I’ve lived in Italy long enough to think I’ve seen it all—rolling vineyards, medieval towns, enough Renaissance art to make my brain short-circuit. But nothing quite prepared me for Matera, a place so old that my senior dog, who remembers life before iPhones, suddenly seemed youthful. My expat friend and I packed up our aging canines and set off on a road trip to Basilicata, ready to experience one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Matera made me question both the region I call home and my stamina for a sensation mimicking one of ‘StairMaster 5,000’.

Matera doesn’t feel real at first. The city rises out of the cliffs in a tumble of ancient stone, glowing golden in the late afternoon light. It’s a place where time seems to pause—except, of course, when you’re trying to navigate its endless staircases with senior dogs in tow. I had never been to Basilicata before, but I could not find words as I stood overlooking the ‘Sassi’. I was left totally astonished, I have been at a loss for words then and now as I try to set the scene for you all.

Tuscany is like living in a postcard, but Matera is like stepping into another era; it is so surreal. The well-known ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and other epics were filmed there.

By the time we arrived, dusk had settled in. We’d spent most of the day in the car. Our hotel, tucked into the historic city center, didn’t look like a hotel at all–it blended seamlessly with the surrounding old stone buildings. Oh and we took full advantage of the Spa located underground at our hotel. Locanda di San Martino.

The spa was the perfect way to end a day-long journey in the car. After the hot tubs, steam rooms, and saunas, we stumbled back to our room, where I picked up a brochure that I stared at for 15 minutes, just staring at the pages, thinking to myself, ‘Where have I seen this before?!’ Only to realize I was flipping through a brochure with several languages, and I was just staring at the same photos, just different languages, I told my friend Anna that I felt absolutely stoned. We were so relaxed that we passed out in our fluffy, extremely high bed.

The next morning, we died and went to food heaven. The breakfast buffet area had so much food! Matera wins for the breakfast spread! They had miniature mozzarella, spicy olives, croissants, prosciutto, seeded bread, jams, and eggs. I am very angry with myself that I can not find photos of the spread, but I was highly impressed. Clearly I was too busy stuffing my mouth that I didn’t document.

After breakfast, we began our exploration. We started our ascent, but we were quickly sidetracked by a little boutique of handmade items.

Next door was a ceramist/architect named Biagio Lamberti. His studio is carved out of the stone, you walk down into what resembles a cave with sooo much to see. By far the most extraordinary pieces I have ever seen. While we marveled at his work and bombarded him with questions, he pointed out some seashell fossils on his ceilings and walls, and gave us a spark notes version of Matera’s history.

One of his pieces was by far the most unique and was inspired by Matera’s fossils, the piece resembles an eel with the head of a donkey. An eel because Matera was at one point submerged under the sea, and a donkey because they used donkeys as a means to transport objects throughout the village for centuries.

Another piece of information and inspiration Biagio shared with us is that water was extremely scarce for the people of Matera. They were able to create a funnel to collect rainwater.

These funnels are another influence that is woven into his work; he created some lamps resembling these funnels.

Having heard the story of how the people of Matera collected the rainwater, we continuously kept seeing these rain collectors. Oh and also there is a huge museum dedicated to the water collection with a cistern that can hold up to 1.5 million liters of water. https://www.laraccoltadelleacquematera.it/

Our days definitely seemed like they slipped away; we just kept talking about how we needed to come back. There is absolutely a trip back guaranteed!

To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger, ‘I’ll be back‘ because I left too many stones unturned last time around.

If you ever have to opportunity to visit Matera, don’t hesitate–go and experience it for yourself!!!