One of the few churches in Matera that stands free above the gorge instead of sitting inside the rock – and therefore one of the city’s most distinctive points.
Built, not dug
San Pietro Caveoso was put up at the edge of the Sasso Caveoso, right above the drop to the Gravina. Unlike the rock churches around it, it is a masonry building – and that is exactly what makes it stand out in the townscape: it stands, while everything else sits in the slope.
Its façade was reworked in later centuries; the bell tower is one of the easiest landmarks to pick out from the terraces of the upper town.
The square
Piazza San Pietro Caveoso is one of the few level surfaces in the district and has always served as a meeting place. From here you look across the gorge, the Monterrone crag with Santa Maria de Idris and the slopes of the Murgia opposite. Anyone wanting to photograph the city finds one of the most accessible perspectives – with no hike at all. More on this on the page about the Belvedere di San Pietro Caveoso.
Inside
The interior is plainer than the setting suggests: three aisles, side altars, a wooden ceiling. If you have come from the painted rock churches, the change works as a contrast – here everything is set, nothing grown.
Around it
From the square steps lead down towards the Gravina and up into the upper town. The furnished cave dwellings are a few steps away, as is the Convicinio di Sant’Antonio. If you are spending half a day in the Caveoso, this is the sensible place to start.
Read on
- Belvedere di San Pietro Caveoso – the view from the square in front
- Santa Maria de Idris – the rock church in the crag opposite
- Sasso Caveoso – the district around it
