ROME: Not many people would necessarily consider spending a holiday in caves. But for those who are tired of Italy’s chaotic, jam-packed cities or for those jaded tourists who have seen it all, a leap in time of several thousand years might be the answer.
Nestled on the edge of a deep river ravine in the highlands of Basilicata, the town of Matera, over 500 km south of Rome, is so remote it doesn’t even have a railway station.
With its tightly knit, honey-colored limestone dwellings blending into each other along the hillside, this UNESCO-listed town appears as the perfect location for a nativity scene – it was indeed the setting for Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.”
Layers of history can be peeled off starting from the top of the town where the XVII century aristocracy quarters lie. Classic maze piazzas and cobble stone vias run past Baroque palazzos, ornate convents and churches bearing carvings of skeletons, a reminder to believers of their mortality.
But as the narrow alleys unwind down the hill toward the Gramigna Canyon, houses give way to stone and plaster structures built to block the entrance of caves that are staggered on top of each other, dating back to the Paleolithic age.
The Sassi of Matera, or the cave dwellers, were referred to as “the disgrace of Italy” until 1952 when two-thirds of the inhabitants, 15,000 people strong, were evicted from the early cave settlements and moved to new public housing developments on the outskirts.
However, the Sassi are now what makes the fortune of the town, attracting tourists from all over the world. Daniele Kihlgren, an eccentric developer with an obsession with preserving local heritage and historical memory, was one of the first to conceive the conversion of 18 prehistoric caverns into luxury hotel Albergo Diffuso, Le Grotte della civita.
Stepping into the bear rock cavern from the outside glare and the heath is like entering another time dimension, akin to a spiritual experience. In this womb-like backdrop it is easy to picture a closely knit community living alongside domestic animals – perhaps a donkey’s straw bed spread where a polished ceramic toilet or a roughly carved stone washbasin are now standing?
The cave is an open space with high ceilings, kitted with a mix of recycled materials and secondhand local furniture and modern amenities. A thick mattress is placed on a traditionally high bed fitted with handwoven linen bedding from wedding trousseau.
Candles flicker on the edge of designer egg-shaped bathtubs, the only concession to modernity besides high-tech lighting and temperature-control switches perfectly concealed under old stone floors.
Primitive human settlements were first established by sheepherders taking shelter in natural caves on their “trasumanza,” that is, their seasonal long journeys from the sea to the mountains and back.
With time, some of these dwellings became more permanent and some were decorated with religious pictures and eventually became sanctuaries, some of which are still visible today.
As the population increased, caves were enlarged by carving out even bigger tunnels that spread into the mountain. The caves were unevenly spaced but some were organized in clusters around a communal patio. Here, ingenious inhabitants made the most of all the existing resources in a mutually supportive manner.
A sustainable system that took advantage of the seasonal inclination of the sun allowed the homes to provide shelter from sun and wind in the summer and warmth and enough light in the winter. Heating was supplied by farm animals that were kept in the homes. The caves were equipped with ventilation systems and relied on a sophisticated water supply mechanism in which water would decant from one cistern to a lower one.
But overcrowding and mismanagement of the resources, poor sanitation and disease drove the authorities to intervene after World War II.
Relocating the population was not an easy task as people resisted breaking up their community and giving up their symbiotic lifestyle. For years the settlement lay mostly abandoned and mainly used as animal shelters until the world recognition brought back interest and funds.
Local activists still lament that the site will now be totally lost to the residents as it will be converted into an open air museum.
Nonetheless, in a region where chronic unemployment has been exacerbated by the latest economic crisis, Matera keeps shining as an island of entrepreneurship and mystic beauty since Paleolithic times.
Source: The Daily Star on August 13, 2011, on page 12
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Generations sheltered by ancient Italian caves
ROME: Not many people would necessarily consider spending a holiday in caves. But for those who are tired of Italy’s chaotic, jam-packed cities or for those jaded tourists who have seen it all, a leap in time of several thousand years might be the answer.
Nestled on the edge of a deep river ravine in the highlands of Basilicata, the town of Matera, over 500 km south of Rome, is so remote it doesn’t even have a railway station.
With its tightly knit, honey-colored limestone dwellings blending into each other along the hillside, this UNESCO-listed town appears as the perfect location for a nativity scene – it was indeed the setting for Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.”
Layers of history can be peeled off starting from the top of the town where the XVII century aristocracy quarters lie. Classic maze piazzas and cobble stone vias run past Baroque palazzos, ornate convents and churches bearing carvings of skeletons, a reminder to believers of their mortality.
But as the narrow alleys unwind down the hill toward the Gramigna Canyon, houses give way to stone and plaster structures built to block the entrance of caves that are staggered on top of each other, dating back to the Paleolithic age.
The Sassi of Matera, or the cave dwellers, were referred to as “the disgrace of Italy” until 1952 when two-thirds of the inhabitants, 15,000 people strong, were evicted from the early cave settlements and moved to new public housing developments on the outskirts.
However, the Sassi are now what makes the fortune of the town, attracting tourists from all over the world. Daniele Kihlgren, an eccentric developer with an obsession with preserving local heritage and historical memory, was one of the first to conceive the conversion of 18 prehistoric caverns into luxury hotel Albergo Diffuso, Le Grotte della civita.
Stepping into the bear rock cavern from the outside glare and the heath is like entering another time dimension, akin to a spiritual experience. In this womb-like backdrop it is easy to picture a closely knit community living alongside domestic animals – perhaps a donkey’s straw bed spread where a polished ceramic toilet or a roughly carved stone washbasin are now standing?
The cave is an open space with high ceilings, kitted with a mix of recycled materials and secondhand local furniture and modern amenities. A thick mattress is placed on a traditionally high bed fitted with handwoven linen bedding from wedding trousseau.
Candles flicker on the edge of designer egg-shaped bathtubs, the only concession to modernity besides high-tech lighting and temperature-control switches perfectly concealed under old stone floors.
Primitive human settlements were first established by sheepherders taking shelter in natural caves on their “trasumanza,” that is, their seasonal long journeys from the sea to the mountains and back.
With time, some of these dwellings became more permanent and some were decorated with religious pictures and eventually became sanctuaries, some of which are still visible today.
As the population increased, caves were enlarged by carving out even bigger tunnels that spread into the mountain. The caves were unevenly spaced but some were organized in clusters around a communal patio. Here, ingenious inhabitants made the most of all the existing resources in a mutually supportive manner.
A sustainable system that took advantage of the seasonal inclination of the sun allowed the homes to provide shelter from sun and wind in the summer and warmth and enough light in the winter. Heating was supplied by farm animals that were kept in the homes. The caves were equipped with ventilation systems and relied on a sophisticated water supply mechanism in which water would decant from one cistern to a lower one.
But overcrowding and mismanagement of the resources, poor sanitation and disease drove the authorities to intervene after World War II.
Relocating the population was not an easy task as people resisted breaking up their community and giving up their symbiotic lifestyle. For years the settlement lay mostly abandoned and mainly used as animal shelters until the world recognition brought back interest and funds.
Local activists still lament that the site will now be totally lost to the residents as it will be converted into an open air museum.
Nonetheless, in a region where chronic unemployment has been exacerbated by the latest economic crisis, Matera keeps shining as an island of entrepreneurship and mystic beauty since Paleolithic times.
Source: The Daily Star on August 13, 2011, on page 12
Nestled on the edge of a deep river ravine in the highlands of Basilicata, the town of Matera, over 500 km south of Rome, is so remote it doesn’t even have a railway station.
With its tightly knit, honey-colored limestone dwellings blending into each other along the hillside, this UNESCO-listed town appears as the perfect location for a nativity scene – it was indeed the setting for Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.”
Layers of history can be peeled off starting from the top of the town where the XVII century aristocracy quarters lie. Classic maze piazzas and cobble stone vias run past Baroque palazzos, ornate convents and churches bearing carvings of skeletons, a reminder to believers of their mortality.
But as the narrow alleys unwind down the hill toward the Gramigna Canyon, houses give way to stone and plaster structures built to block the entrance of caves that are staggered on top of each other, dating back to the Paleolithic age.
The Sassi of Matera, or the cave dwellers, were referred to as “the disgrace of Italy” until 1952 when two-thirds of the inhabitants, 15,000 people strong, were evicted from the early cave settlements and moved to new public housing developments on the outskirts.
However, the Sassi are now what makes the fortune of the town, attracting tourists from all over the world. Daniele Kihlgren, an eccentric developer with an obsession with preserving local heritage and historical memory, was one of the first to conceive the conversion of 18 prehistoric caverns into luxury hotel Albergo Diffuso, Le Grotte della civita.
Stepping into the bear rock cavern from the outside glare and the heath is like entering another time dimension, akin to a spiritual experience. In this womb-like backdrop it is easy to picture a closely knit community living alongside domestic animals – perhaps a donkey’s straw bed spread where a polished ceramic toilet or a roughly carved stone washbasin are now standing?
The cave is an open space with high ceilings, kitted with a mix of recycled materials and secondhand local furniture and modern amenities. A thick mattress is placed on a traditionally high bed fitted with handwoven linen bedding from wedding trousseau.
Candles flicker on the edge of designer egg-shaped bathtubs, the only concession to modernity besides high-tech lighting and temperature-control switches perfectly concealed under old stone floors.
Primitive human settlements were first established by sheepherders taking shelter in natural caves on their “trasumanza,” that is, their seasonal long journeys from the sea to the mountains and back.
With time, some of these dwellings became more permanent and some were decorated with religious pictures and eventually became sanctuaries, some of which are still visible today.
As the population increased, caves were enlarged by carving out even bigger tunnels that spread into the mountain. The caves were unevenly spaced but some were organized in clusters around a communal patio. Here, ingenious inhabitants made the most of all the existing resources in a mutually supportive manner.
A sustainable system that took advantage of the seasonal inclination of the sun allowed the homes to provide shelter from sun and wind in the summer and warmth and enough light in the winter. Heating was supplied by farm animals that were kept in the homes. The caves were equipped with ventilation systems and relied on a sophisticated water supply mechanism in which water would decant from one cistern to a lower one.
But overcrowding and mismanagement of the resources, poor sanitation and disease drove the authorities to intervene after World War II.
Relocating the population was not an easy task as people resisted breaking up their community and giving up their symbiotic lifestyle. For years the settlement lay mostly abandoned and mainly used as animal shelters until the world recognition brought back interest and funds.
Local activists still lament that the site will now be totally lost to the residents as it will be converted into an open air museum.
Nonetheless, in a region where chronic unemployment has been exacerbated by the latest economic crisis, Matera keeps shining as an island of entrepreneurship and mystic beauty since Paleolithic times.
Source: The Daily Star on August 13, 2011, on page 12