Basilicata
This is a region of Italy that is perhaps written about less than others. That is good for your if you travel here as they will be fewer crowds.
Located between the Regions of Apulia, which is the "heel" of the Italian map and Calabria which is the "toe" of the map.
Like many, we have driven through Basilicata on our way to other areas but in 2009 we made this one of our destinations.
Matera
Here is a location you will not see anywhere else. This is the location of the sassi, stone houses carved out of, and into the cliffs of a ravine that runs through the town.
The rail and bus centre is located off via Roma not far from Piazza Mateotti, in the upper part of the town. The most frequent rail service is to Bari. On our trip, we had landed by ferry in Bari and it was a short drive to Matera.We arrived by car and using our GPS sought to find our hotel. Yes you may have the coordinates, but here was an example where you simply could not take a car down a "street" as the street was nothing more than a space between two buildings and in fact a series of steps. But, parking the car, and heading out by foot, we figured out where we were and walked to the hotel. They were helpful in giving us directions and where the park the car to unpack bags and then a fellow took the car to a nearby garage.
Matera has rightfully been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The sassi, the old caves and homes are built into the sides of the ravine.. The Sasso Barisano is north of the town centre and the Sasso Caveoso is located to the east.
We stayed at the Locanda di San Martino, which we rank very highly as one of our Great Places To Stay. This is a hotel, built into the rock cliffs, in fact the many of the rooms are old caves.
The "newer" part of Matea is above the ravine. It is much like other Italian towns but the area around the central piazza is very pleasant.
The sassi section, however, is truly unique. The oldest part of the sassi dates from medieval or in fact earlier times, this is the area near the top of the ravine. The buildings in the lower section may look older but they are newer, having being built in this century.
The caveoso area has the Chiesa di San Pietro Caveoso as well as the rock churches of Santa Maria d'Idris and Santa Lucia alle Malve. Both have hold Byzantine frescoes.
Here are some views of Matera, it is truly a very remarkable place to visit.
We did not make it the Museo della Tortura, but as the name implies, I have been told that this has all types of devices that were used to torture individuals. The museum is closed on Mondays.
Maratea
Scenic stop, unfortunately we were like many, in a hurry on our way down the coast heading to Calabria and then to Sicily. There are great views of the Gulf of Policastro. The town is a hill-top village, and by some accounts is now sophisticated and expensive. We found the centre of Maratea to be a hodge-podge of old buildings, narrow alleyways with stores sprinkled here and there. What else would you expect? The trains will stop at Maratea Marina and with the station on the Rome-Reggion line there are numerous trains.
Along the coast here are the towns of Fiumicello-Santa, Venere, Porto, Aquafredda and Marina dei Maratéa. One one our trips we stayed at the Hotel Villa del Mare in Acquafredda. It hangs on the sides of the cliffs and if you have a room facing the water there is a great view of the Gulf.
We found Práia a Mare to have too much development for our liking.