Matera

Before its integration into the modern Italian state, the city of Matera had experienced the rule of the Romans, Lombards, Arabs, Byzantine Greeks, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, and Bourbons. Although scholars continue to debate the date the dwellings were first occupied in Matera, and the continuity of their subsequent occupation, the area of what is now Matera is believed to have been settled since the Palaeolithic (tenth millennium BC). This makes it potentially one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world. Alternatively, it has been suggested by Anne Toxey that the area has been "occupied continuously for at least three millennia". Built on an entrenched prehistoric village, the town is likely to have Greek origins. …

On 17 October 2014, Matera was declared European Capital of Culture for 2019, together with Bulgaria's second-largest city, Plovdiv. The cuisine of Matera is a typical cucina povera (Italian for 'cuisine of the poor') from Southern Italy. It features a sort of blend of Basilicata and Apulia's cuisines being in a border area between the two regions. Some specialties are "peperoni cruschi", a sweet and dry pepper variety very popular in Basilicata, and "Pane di Matera", a type of bread recognizable for its intense flavour and conical shape, granted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. Matera produces an eponymous wine which bears the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) designation. Some dishes from the local cuisine include: Crapiata, a peasant soup with chickpeas, beans, broad beans, wheat, lentils, cicerchie. …

The "Sassi di Matera" originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the earliest human settlements in what is now Italy. The Sassi are habitations dug into the calcareous rock, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia. Many of them are little more than small caverns, and in some parts of the Sassi a street lies on top of another group of dwellings. 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". 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. …