Sleeping in a Sassi Cave Dwelling, Matera

Matera is built into a ravine in the Basilicata region of southern Italy, and its sassi — stone cave dwellings carved into the soft tufa rock of the canyon walls — have been continuously inhabited since the Palaeolithic era, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied human settlements on earth. Carlo Levi wrote about the shame of Matera in Christ Stopped at Eboli; the Italian government evacuated the cave dwellings in the 1950s as a public health measure; and then in 1993, UNESCO declared them a World Heritage Site, and the evacuated caves became the most distinctive hotel rooms in the Mediterranean.

The experience of staying in a converted sassi is genuinely unlike anything else in Europe. The walls are raw tufa stone — cool in summer, insulating in winter. The rooms are carved into the rock, often with natural humidity control built into the ancient design. Some have been converted into extraordinary boutique hotels (Sextantio le Grotte della Civita is the finest), preserving the cave architecture while adding every modern comfort. The view from your terrace across the ravine to the opposite canyon face, with cave dwellings and churches carved into the rock, is the view that Benedict XVI had in mind when he called Matera 'a metaphor for the human journey.'

Matera was the European Capital of Culture in 2019, which brought infrastructure improvements and international attention. It remains less visited than it deserves — a night here, walking the stone alleys of the Sasso Caveoso after dinner, with the canyon lit from below and the stars above, is among the most transportative experiences Italy offers. Get there before everyone else figures this out.