48h in MATERA: This City Doesn't Look Real

Matera is one of the most fascinating places that we've ever visited. Not only does its unique beauty make it almost look fake, but it also has an incredibly interesting history. It's one of the oldest cities in the world and it's built on layers of caves that people lived in until the 1950s. But before we spoil too much, we'll jump right into us arriving at our Airbnb to start 48 hours in this amazing place. We just checked in to our apartment here in Matera and it's called The View. And this is the first view that you see when you walk in. At first, I didn't even see it because I didn't look straight. As I looked through the window, I was like very surprised. There was an audible wow, which doesn't happen often with us. I think the effect was even better because we haven't seen the city yet. Yeah, we didn't even walk there. It looks like a painting, a really big painting. Because yeah, it's a big window. This is Matera. So this is a closed door. It's probably to the other room, I don't know. But this is a bathroom. Cool. This is really cool, by the way. I think this is why most people book this place is because of course this looks pretty cool in front of the window. I mean, we didn't do that, obviously. We're not that shallow. But anyway, this looks cool. Coming up the stairs. We actually have a restaurant reservation in seven minutes. So we need to hurry. Yeah, but it's right next door. Bedroom. Nice big closet. I like that. And then... It's basically the same view but from outside, which is also very nice. We've eaten so much mozzarella and burrata here. I haven't regretted one single ball. This is our main course. Fried peppers seem to be a thing here. And this is on top of a cacio e pepe variation. It's really cheesy. Matera is one of those towns that just looks fake. And actually, I think it's fake. We haven't really found any proof yet that it isn't just a cardboard cutout, you know. So far, we haven't been to the other side. So it could be an elaborate scam. Here we are back at the view. And it is, I mean, this is the perfect view for an aperitivo. Which is, I think, our new favorite Italian beer. At least your new favorite. Yeah. We just came back from our sassy tour, which we booked. Sassy tour. And the sassy are actually the canyons that the city is built on. It was super interesting. Yeah, it's a really good way to get an introduction into the city. Yeah, and we can only recommend you to do this kind of tour on your first day here. Then you're just more aware of what this town is about. Yeah, it just makes more sense, the whole town. It's a different kind of feeling once you know how the city was built and the origins of the city. This town is built on many layers. So there are many layers of these caves that were built onto each other. Yeah. And some of these caves have been around since the first century. Others have been built later on. The first caves here, actually, that we can also see on the other side of this canyon, also date back to 8,000 years ago. That's pretty impressive. And then, yeah, these proper houses on top later on. Came later, yeah. But this top layer here isn't really made from caves. These are just normal buildings. This is basically the normal town that was built around the whole cave homes. In the 16th and 17th century, when people discovered that you could make some money by building some houses here and exploiting the poor people in the caves. And then in 1950, or in the 1950s at least, a writer came here from another part of Italy. Writer that got quite famous, I guess. He kind of discovered that people here still lived in these caves, which was not appropriate for the time in Italy at all because Italy was quite prosperous. And yeah, he wrote about it and spread the word to all of Italy. So this town here got more attention from politics and everything. Which also meant that all of the people living in the caves had to move out pretty much. And apparently some were happy about it, some not so happy. Very impressive in general, the history of this area. It really is an amazing town. For dinner, we went to a restaurant in the perfect setting. A renovated cave in the Sassi. The atmosphere is unique and the food was pretty delicious too. All in all, it was a great ending to a lovely first day. First things first this morning. Gotta renew our parking ticket. Well, we wouldn't have to do that if we just bought one for two days. But we are always in hope of finding a free parking spot. This time, we didn't succeed. But it's very hard in Matera. There are very few white lines. Most of them are blue, so. We've spotted our Airbnb. That's the one. The big window, that's our one. Oh yes. Café Gave is a good spot for people watching, sitting on the square, enjoying your morning cappuccino. How's the croissant here at Gave? It's very good. Tastes very fresh. The prices here are crazy for people from Hamburg at least. Especially coffee. A good cappuccino is 1.50 to 2 euros here. Here in this place, it's 1.80. Pretty good. What happened here? We walked into this bakery to get a Coke, because there are no supermarkets around here. And then we saw these freshly baked cookies coming out of the oven. And we were too interested to see what they taste like to not get one. There's some chocolate in there and then also some candied fruits. Tastes like chocolatey, orangey goodness. A little bit Christmassy. I think there's probably some cinnamon in it. If you need a nice space to cool off, this is actually a really good choice. Very convenient. Also, you can go swimming here. This is like the public pool. And I think they'd enjoy you jumping in here and cooling off a little bit. This is one of the coolest views in Matera. You can really feel that you're, you know, entering the Sassi a few hundred years ago. Ready to go to your cave. No, it's really impressive. I mean, this whole town is just so different from all the towns we've seen. It's the third oldest town in the world that has been continuously habitated. And there are many cool views that you can have here. I mean, pretty much around any corner, you'll find something to look at. And you should definitely get a view from up top somewhere, like our Airbnb. And then also this view here where you come into the Sassi is super impressive. It's like you're walking into a game, basically. And the world opens up. That is very special. And also, that's where you can go into the caves and visit some of the caves because their museums now are made into something else, like a restaurant. Watch your steps, though, because these stones are really slippery. And when you're wearing sandals, it's quite hard to walk on them, actually. We've had a few close calls with Zoe almost landing in hospital. These cave entrances here that aren't public, I think they're even more interesting than the ones that are fully restored. Because these feel much more like in an original condition. Probably not, but... It looks like they found it this way. Yeah. I mean, there are some tools and some building supplies in there. But this is super cool. I bet there's like a shadow tourism side of like exploring these caves at night. We wouldn't recommend doing that, but that would be very exciting. Just saying, if you would offer that, we would... Yeah, if somebody could send us a message with like an illegal tour or something, we would consider it. No, not really, but this looks super cool. We've even found some original old wall paintings. Look at these frescoes. Oh, wow. It's crazy, isn't it? Oh, wow, that is so cool. If you do visit Matera, but you don't have enough time for going on the tour, for example, we can recommend going to Casa Noa, which gives you a really good introduction into the history of Matera and the whole history of the Sassi and how it was living in the Sassi. It's like a multimedia presentation. It's basically a video. Yeah, it's basically a video of 25 minutes, but it's a good one. Yeah. It's a good introduction. You pay 650 admissions and also goes to the funds of the FAI, which is a non-profit organization. We are now embarking on a potentially very stupid and dangerous adventure because we are attempting to hike to the other side of the mountain. Dangerous and stupid because it's very warm outside. Are we the first ones to do this? No. Like elderly people doing this every day? Yes. Is Simon exaggerating a little bit? Once again, maybe. What are we risking? Everything. But what do we have to gain? Potentially a nice view. Could be worth it. Look at this view right now. Yeah, this view is also really nice. What does it say? Potentially very dangerous. It's 1.84 kilometers. I think we can do it. Okay, it should be doable. Here is the bridge that we need to cross. I heard you like hanging bridges. Love them. Here we are again, ready for this adventure. Are you? I am. Actually, I mean, we've seen a lot of children do this as well, so I don't think it's going to be... You know, let's just do this, you know. The key is mindset, you know, and not looking down. But, you know, mostly mindset and also holding on tightly to the edge of the bridge. But it's also mostly mindset, you know. Well, we found a cage. I mean a cave. Could have been a cage as well. It's crazy to think people live here. But I bet a lot of little insects and animals live in these holes in this cave here. Definitely. Well, it's nice and cool in here. It is kind of warm outside. It's nice to have some shade. That's what these people thought. There's a really nice and thick spider web hanging from one hole. I'll give you two euros if you put your hand in it. Two euros? Okay. The flower looks pretty cool. Oh damn, there's a big one here. Well, this one is just like the lounge area kind of cave. I don't know. It is a cave, but it's a very small one. I don't think people lived here. It's crazy how deep it goes down. Yeah, it would be nice to see the inside of it. But look at this view. The view is incredible. And another one. This one is bigger. Room for a lot of people. Yeah. The sad thing is when people still lived here, they didn't have such a nice view. Lots of inscriptions on the walls, but I don't think they're that old. This might have been a bed. A bed. Or like a couch. Okay. Probably a couch, like a chaise longue. You know where the TV stood? Yeah. And here they had their little kitchen area. Okay. These were the shelves. Okay. You know these refrigerators, these American ones, where you can directly get the ice? Yeah. I think they had one of those. Okay, this one here is crazy. It's dark and also a little bit disgusting, because as we stepped into here, you could see all the insects flying around here. And we don't know which other kind of animals live here. But I'm too curious not to check the other room out. Imagine how people just sat there. Thinking about life, the same as we did. There are these... I mean, no idea what it is. If you have any idea or you're a historian, please write us in the comments what all of these holes are. Spider webs everywhere. Yeah, these look... This is cool. This is really cool. And yeah, I can already say if you're in Matera, do this hike and check out the caves on the other side. Okay, it's windy. And I think this was incredible, but we'll head back. I agree. You are walking very close to the cliff at some point. Yeah, and it's windy. And the sun is burning down. You don't really notice it because of the wind, but I think it's time to turn back. Yeah. This was cool though.