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13-556: The cathedral was built in Apulian Romanesque style in the 13th century on the ridge that forms the highest point of the city of Matera and divides the two Sassi , on the site of the ancient Church of Saint Eustace , protector of the city. Construction began in 1203, the year in which Pope Innocent III raised Matera to the rank of an archdiocese in union with Acerenza as the Archdiocese of Acerenza and Matera , and

26-580: A scene with James Bond 's Aston Martin racing through was shot. in 2016 the band Corde Oblique released a song, "I sassi di Matera", on the album "I Maestri del Colore". The song is divided into two parts, the first inspired by the so-called Sasso Barisano, and the second by the Sasso Caveoso. Gravina (river) The Gravina (also called Gravina di Picciano ) is a river in the Apulia and Basilicata regions of southern Italy . Its source

39-873: A sculptural group of a Pesebre (1534, Nativity scene) and painted limestone crib, both created by Altobello Persio ; the Chapel of the Annunciation erected in Renaissance -style period by Giulio Persio ; and a 14th-century fresco depicting the Last Judgment , which re-emerged during recent restoration work. The high altar has an altarpiece by Fabrizio Santafede depicting The Virgin with Saints . 40°40′00″N 16°36′41″E  /  40.6668°N 16.6113°E  / 40.6668; 16.6113 Sassi di Matera The Sassi di Matera are two districts ( Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano ) of

52-642: Is near Poggiorsini and the border of the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani in the province of Bari . The river flows southeast near Gravina in Puglia before crossing into the province of Matera . It flows west of Matera before emptying into the Bradano as a left tributary a short distance after the Bradano exits Lago di San Giuliano . This Apulia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Basilicata location article

65-671: The Italian city of Matera , Basilicata , well-known for their ancient cave dwellings inhabited since the Paleolithic period. The "Sassi" have been described by Fodor's as "one of the most unique landscapes in Europe". Along with the park of the Rupestrian Churches, it was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993. The Sassi originate from a prehistoric troglodyte settlement and are suspected to be among

78-647: The Christ ( Mel Gibson , 2004), The Nativity Story ( Catherine Hardwicke , 2006) and Ben-Hur ( Timur Bekmambetov , 2016). The Sassi di Matera serves as a critical clue in Dick Rosano's mystery, 'The Secret of Altamura.' They also appeared in Patty Jenkins 's Wonder Woman (2017), serving as a location for the Amazons' city Themyscira , and Cary Joji Fukunaga 's No Time to Die (2021), where

91-484: The city. Finally, from 1627 Monsignor Fabrizio Antinori, archbishop of Matera, dedicated the cathedral to the Madonna della Bruna and to Saint Eustace. The west front is dominated by the rose window of sixteen rays and by the campanile on the left side, 52 metres high. The cathedral has a Latin cross ground plan and contains three naves , separated by round arches supported by columns with stone capitals. Much of

104-517: The first human settlements in Italy. There is evidence that people were living here as early as the year 7000 BC. The Sassi are houses dug into the calcarenitic rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia , locally called "tufo" although it is not volcanic tuff or tufa . The streets in some parts of the Sassi often run on top of other houses. The ancient town grew up on one slope of

117-494: The interior received a Baroque-style decoration in the 17th and 18th century, including gilded stuccoes and frames. The interior has an Italo-Byzantine fresco depicting the Madonna della Bruna and Child , dating from 1270 and attributed to one Rinaldo da Taranto; the relics of Saint John of Matera (translated here in 1830); carved wooden choir stalls (60 in total) in the apse (1453), by Giovanni Tantino of Ariano Irpino ;

130-588: The modern new Italian Republic of Alcide De Gasperi . However, people continued to live in the Sassi, and according to the English Fodor's guide: Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to be still living in the same houses of their ancestors of 9,000 years ago. Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty, since many of these houses were, and in some cases still are, uninhabitable. The current local administration, however, has become more tourism-oriented, and it has promoted

143-492: The ravine created by the Gravina river . The ravine is known locally as "la Gravina". The term sasso derives from Latin saxum , meaning a hill, rock or great stone. In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city. Beset by extreme poverty and riddled with malaria , the unhealthy living conditions were considered inhuman and an affront to

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156-778: The regeneration of the Sassi with the aid of the European Union , the government, and UNESCO . Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels there, as described in an April 2015 article in The New Yorker . The "Sassi" grew in the area of Murgia Plateau, extended between Apulia and Basilicata . Along with the "Civita" and the "Piano", the two Sassi form Matera's Old Town. The Sassi are visually reminiscent of ancient sites in and around Jerusalem , and for this reason they have been used in many Christian-themed films, including The Gospel According to St. Matthew ( Pier Paolo Pasolini , 1964), The Passion of

169-460: Was completed in 1270. The original dedication was to Santa Maria di Matera, as recorded in a contemporary notarial document. Then, on the evidence of a will of 1318, it was entitled Santa Maria dell'Episcopio, and from 1389, the year in which Pope Urban VI (already Archbishop of Matera), instituted the feast of the Visitation , it was dedicated to Santa Maria della Bruna , also a protector of

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