Renaissance and Baroque facades open onto 8th-century cisterns, transformed into homes. Some of the hypogea in the Sassi di Matera have been excavated repeatedly up to the 1950s, others walled up and forgotten, hidden in the sides of the hill. The Palombaro Lungo, the immense water reservoir under Piazza Vittorio Veneto, has sections built three thousand years ago, while the most recent ones are from the 1700s, all this is part of the Plan of the city of Matera.

Piazza Vittorio Veneto, formerly known as Piazza Del Plebiscito, was also known as “piazza della Fontana” due to the presence of the large monumental “Fontana Ferdinandea”, built in 1832 to collect water from the hill above the “De Montigny” castle.

Along the Plan, it is possible to visit some of the most beautiful and important churches of the city:

• Church of San Giovanni Battista, built in 1233, also in Romanesque style. Inside, with three naves, there is a large sail vault redone in 1793, the year in which several changes were made to preserve the church’s statics, beautiful Apulian capitals that adorn the columns with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and plant figures, and an imposing apse.
• Church of San Domenico, was built along with the convent starting from 1230 in Apulian Romanesque style. The rose window surrounded by four relief figures depicting a telamon, two figurines on the sides, and at the top the Archangel Michael is very beautiful. In the center of the rose window, a dog with a torch in its mouth, symbol of the Dominicans. The interior, with three naves with side altars and a hemispherical coffered dome, was modernized in 1774; among the works preserved inside is the Crucifixion with Saint Dominic, made by Pietrafesa in 1653.
• Palazzo dell’Annunziata, a 17th-century palace located in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, initially housed the Dominican convent, then became a court in 1865 and later a middle school. Today, the building that dominates the central square of Matera houses the Media Library and the Provincial Library as well as hosting the Municipal Cinema.
• Hypogeums of Piazza Vittorio Veneto, located under the main square of the city and brought to light a few years ago, contain in addition to numerous hypogeal environments also an ancient cistern, called the Palombaro Lungo, and a tower that was part of the walls that were supposed to be close to the Tramontano Castle.
• Ferdinandea Fountain, restored by King Ferdinand II of Bourbon in 1832, was originally located at the foot of the castle hill and collected water from that hill. After World War II, its supply function exhausted, it was moved inside the municipal villa. In April 2009, it was returned to its original location in Piazza Vittorio Veneto.

Other Squares that make up the plan are:

Piazza del Sedile: formerly “Piazza Maggiore” used in the 14th century as a market square and surrounded by warehouses, taverns, and shops, in 1550 it was arranged to host the governor’s offices, the city prisons, and the municipal palace or “sedile”.

• Palazzo del Sedile, located in the central Piazza Sedile, was built in 1540, renovated in 1759, and is the home of the “Egidio Romualdo Duni” Conservatory of Music and the Gervasio Auditorium. The facade features two bell towers and is adorned with six statues. Also facing the same square is the Governor’s Palace, dating back to the 17th century, the first seat of the Royal Audience of Basilicata. Its basements were used as the city’s prison. Today it is a hotel.
• Church of San Francesco d’Assisi, almost completely rebuilt in 1670 in Baroque style. Notable are the external facade in late Baroque style, while inside there is the ancient crypt of Saints Peter and Paul, which preserves a fresco depicting Pope Urban II’s visit to the Sassi di Matera in 1093. Also remarkable are the panels of a disassembled polyptych of the Venetian school variously attributed to Bartolomeo Vivarini or Lazzaro Bastiani.
• Church of Purgatory, built in 1747 in late Baroque style, presents a facade with decorations on the theme of death and the redemption of souls. Notable is the wooden portal divided into 36 panels that at the top features skulls of prelates and sovereigns and at the bottom those of common citizens. Inside, in a Greek cross layout, there is an octagonal dome.
• Church of Santa Chiara, was built at the end of the 17th century along with adjacent premises that first hosted the hospital, then the convent of the Poor Clares, and finally the premises of the “Domenico Ridola” National Archaeological Museum. The facade, rich in decorations, features a large lunette at the top and below the portal with two semi-columns and two niches with statues of saints on the sides. The interior has a single nave.

Piazzetta Giovanni Pascoli: Located to the left of the 17th-century Palazzo Lanfranchi, Piazzetta Pascoli is named after the Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli, who started his career as a teacher of Latin and Greek in Matera between 1882 and 1884. It is the point from which one enjoys one of the most beautiful panoramic views of the Sassi di Matera.

THE FOLKLORE: THE FEAST OF LA BRUNA

On the day of Madonna delle Grazie, July 2nd, the city of Matera celebrates its Patron Saint: SS Maria della Bruna.

There are many legends told in the Sassi di Matera about this festival.
One of these tells of an unknown girl, who appeared to a farmer returning to the Sassi di Matera. The girl asked the good man for a ride on his cart, and after he had accompanied her to the city gates, near the little church of Piccianello, he saw her transform into a statue. The Virgin then greeted the incredulous farmer by whispering these words: “This is how, on a decorated cart, I want to enter my city every year.” For this reason, Count Tramontano, then lord of Matera, promised the city everything necessary for the celebration in honor of the patron saint, even a new cart every year. The Materans, to test the poorly tolerated tyrant, assaulted the Triumphal Chariot forcing the Count to keep his promise. Thus, one of the oldest stories in the world was born, more than 600 years old.

The festival, in an extraordinary mix of sacred and profane, starts at five in the morning with the procession of the shepherds, with the image of the Virgin carried throughout the city and announced by rows of fireworks exploded in celebration. In late morning, the statue of the Madonna is carried in procession from the Church of San Francesco d’Assisi to the parish of Piccianello by the archbishop with all the clergy following. Also parading to accompany the Virgin are the “knights” of La Bruna, more than 90 knights with armor of old.

The traditional cart is made of papier-mâché to be mounted on the motor structure, and is pulled by four pairs of mules. The art of papier-mâché has been practiced in the city for centuries. The cart with the statue of Maria della Bruna travels the central streets of the city, starting in the late afternoon from the parish of Piccianello and making the reverse journey compared to the morning procession; arriving at the Church of San Francesco d’Assisi, it makes three laps of the square as a sign of taking possession of the city by the protector, and immediately after, the statue of the Madonna is taken down from the cart to be deposited, beginning the last part of the journey towards the central Piazza Vittorio Veneto where the cart will be assaulted and destroyed by the crowd.
In the tumultuous descent towards the square, the cart is escorted by the knights of La Bruna and by volunteers who surround it to prevent impatient youths from destroying it before its arrival. Usually, the cart is assaulted near the church of Santa Lucia, right at the entrance to the square, almost never managing to reach the center of the square intact. The assailants attempt with great fervor to take home a piece of the cart as a trophy and as a sign of good omen (the artifact previously blessed by the archbishop, because on it the virgin will arrive in the city) before only its skeleton remains. The secular ritual thus concludes amid general jubilation, and the following year a new cart will be designed and built. This is an ancient collective rite of rebirth and regeneration, for the Materans the new year is after all this. A cycle closes with the “strazzo” (tearing) of the cart to start a new one.

The feast of La Bruna ends late at night with the explosion of fireworks that illuminate the Gravina and the Sassi di Matera. “A mmogghjë a mmogghjë a quonn cj vahnë” (always better next year), is the Materans’ final wish for an ever more beautiful festival.