A city where thousands lived in caves also has a row of noble palaces – not a contradiction but the same process seen from two sides. While the rock was being extended down on the slope, people were building in stone up on the plateau: administration, church, landed property.
Why they exist
When Matera became a seat of administration and the upper town spread across the level plateau, the houses of those who owned the surrounding land went up there. Their building material came from the same limestone as the caves below – often literally: the stone for the façade came out of the room created by hollowing.
The well-known ones
- Palazzo dell’Annunziata – the broad front on Piazza Vittorio Veneto, once a convent, today the city library and a cinema.
- Palazzo del Sedile – for centuries the seat of local government, today the conservatoire. Practice sessions drift out of the windows.
- Palazzo Lanfranchi – a former seminary, today the regional museum, with the best-known terrace in the city in front of it.
- Palazzo Gattini – on Piazza Duomo beside the cathedral, today a hotel.
- Palazzo Pomarici – in the Sasso Caveoso, built on cave rooms, today home to the MUSMA.
The quieter ones
Away from the squares stand further palazzi that no sign identifies and that are easily taken for ordinary houses – among them Palazzo Malvinni Malvezzi on the Civita, Palazzo Bernardini and Palazzo del Casale. As a rule they are not open to the public; some are opened for events. They are still worth a look from outside: on them you see the way of building without the attention the main squares attract.
What to look for
Three things set these houses apart from the rest of the stock:
- The doorway. The size and decoration of the entrance was the real statement of status – not the number of windows.
- The courtyard. Almost every palace has one; where a gate stands open, it is worth looking in.
- What lies beneath. These buildings too stand on caves and cisterns. At Palazzo Pomarici you can walk through them in the museum.
Read on
- The old town of Matera – the upper town as a whole
- Churches in Matera – the religious side of the same era
- Museums in Matera – what can be seen in these buildings today
