Basilicata

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The poor dry Mezzogiorno landscape of Basilicata area was made famous by Carlo Levi in "Christ Stopped at Eboli". Once the preserve of just poverty, disease and death, the Sassi area of Matera is now undergoing something of a transformation. These were crude dwellings hewn out of the bare rock, eerily reminiscent of the burial chambers of the necropolis that can be seen in the distant cliffs - how strange that life should mimic death so clearly. Gradually many developed more...
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The poor dry Mezzogiorno landscape of Basilicata area was made famous by Carlo Levi in "Christ Stopped at Eboli". Once the preserve of just poverty, disease and death, the Sassi area of Matera is now undergoing something of a transformation. These were crude dwellings hewn out of the bare rock, eerily reminiscent of the burial chambers of the necropolis that can be seen in the distant cliffs - how strange that life should mimic death so clearly. Gradually many developed more elaborate architectural features and there were even a number of churches built. However extensive the embellishments, at the end of the day these homes were the neighbours of malaria and tuberculosis and an early death. After hundreds of years of settlement, the inhabitants were relocated to more modern accommodation and the area was virtually uninhabited until the 1970s when people started to take a renewed interest in these unusual homes and a slow programme of modernisation began. Now the transition from poverty to chic has got into full swing with holiday homes, nightlife, and at least one hip hotel gentrifying the Sassi area. The Sassi area has long attracted the fascination of film directors, most recently Mel Gibson who created an impression of ancient Jerusalem here in "The Passion of Christ". Soon after this production, the inhabitants of Matera who were looking forward to a further boost to local tourism, were instead visited by a plague of locusts which drove away travellers and ravaged local agriculture. Such is the fickle hand of time.
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