The largest rock church in the city – and the only one where you can still see the old draining niches. From outside you would not guess it.
A masonry face
San Pietro Barisano lies at the lower edge of the district of the same name. From outside it looks like an ordinary masonry church with a bell tower; only inside does it become clear that the space reaches far into the rock. It is therefore a model case of the Barisano way of building: set at the front, dug at the back.
By floor area it counts as the largest rock church in Matera – a scale you only grasp when you look from the entrance towards the back and the end of the room lies in half-darkness.
The lower church
Beneath the main room lies a crypt with niches in which the dead were laid out until the body fluids had drained away; the bones then went into a common ossuary. The practice was widespread in southern Italy but is rarely preserved as completely as here. The niches with their drainage channels are unaltered and make the visit memorable – for some also unpleasant; if you are squeamish, it is better to know beforehand.
Condition and history
After services ceased, the church served for a long time as a store and was cleared out in the process; fittings were lost and frescoes survive only in fragments. Restoration has made the space accessible again. What is missing is part of the story: at hardly any other church in the city can the decay of the Sassi and their later recovery be read so directly.
Getting there
The way leads down from the upper edge of the Sasso Barisano by steps. Inside it is cool and damp, the floor uneven. You do not need a torch, but you do need patient eyes – the remains of the paintings do not reveal themselves at first glance.
Read on
- Sasso Barisano – the district around it
- Madonna delle Virtù – the rock-church complex further down the slope
- Belvedere Via D’Addozio – the view from the upper edge
