How people really lived in the Sassi before the evacuation
To understand what life was like in the Sassi of Matera before they were evacuated in the 1950s, two visits are essential. The first is Casa Noha, a historic house in the Sasso Caveoso, near the Cathedral, donated by the Noha family to the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano), which has transformed it into a space dedicated to the history of the city. Through an evocative multimedia show, projected on the walls of the house's rooms, Casa Noha tells the story of Matera from its origins to the present day: the millennia of life in the caves, the ingenious system of water collection, the poverty denounced by Carlo Levi, the "national disgrace", the evacuation and the long rebirth up to its recognition as a UNESCO site and European Capital of Culture. It is an excellent introduction for those visiting the city for the first time.
The second is the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario, a cave house in the Sasso Caveoso, furnished as it was until the 1950s, which shows the daily life of a peasant family: a single room carved into the rock, where parents, many children and animals lived together, with the high bed, under which the hens were kept, the manger for the mule, the corner for the pig, the loom, the household tools, the cistern for water and the dung heap. The visit, with an audio guide, is moving and helps to understand both the hardness of that life and the deep bond of the inhabitants with their houses. Other cave houses, palm cisterns and "neighbourhoods", the vicinati, can be visited in the Sassi.
Tip: start your visit of Matera at Casa Noha; then visit the Casa Grotta, a few minutes' walk away.
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