Twice a day the sun stands low above the gorge. The city then looks different from every photograph you have seen of it.
In the morning
Sunrise is worth it from the city side: the light comes over the Murgia and hits the Sassi head-on. It is also pleasantly quiet – for an hour the lanes belong to the cats and the delivery vans.
In the evening
At sunset the direction reverses. Look from the opposite slope and you see the city in warm light; stay in the city and you watch the gorge fall into shadow and the first lights come on.
The blue hour
The real high point comes after sunset: while the sky is still bright and the lighting of the Sassi is already burning, there are twenty minutes of balance that no other moment of the day offers.
Practical
A torch helps for the way back through the lanes – not every staircase is lit. If you drive across to the belvedere, plan for the return in the dark.
Read on
- The best photo spots in Matera – where to stand
- Viewpoints in Matera – all the views compared
