The noble palace on Piazza Duomo – today a hotel, but from outside still an unchanged part of the square on the Civita.
Setting and family
The Palazzo Gattini stands right beside the cathedral on the Civita and belonged to one of the city’s most influential families. The present building is seventeenth-century at its core. The address was the best Matera had to give: next to the cathedral, on the oldest ground, with a view down both sides.
The building
The façade bounds Piazza Duomo to the south; at the back the ground falls away into the Sasso Caveoso. As with most palazzi in the city, a courtyard lies behind the doorway, and beneath the house are cave rooms and cisterns – the nobility too built on the same underground as everyone else.
Use today
The house has been converted into a hotel. From outside the palace remains part of the square and can be looked at any time; the courtyard is reserved for hotel guests. If you want to see the construction from inside, you will find it at Palazzo Pomarici, which is open as a museum.
Read on
- Piazza Duomo – the square in front
- Cattedrale di Matera – the cathedral next door
- The palaces of the upper town – the other palazzi
