Matera is a town and a province in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Matera. The town lies athwart a small canyon, which has been eroded in the course of years by a small stream, the Gravina.
Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera" (meaning "stones of Matera"). The Sassi originate from a prehistoric settlement. The Sassi are houses dug into the tuff rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata. Many of these "houses" are really only caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi often are located on the rooftops of other houses.
Until the late 1980s this was considered an area of poverty (an economy based on agriculture) since these houses were, and in most areas still are, mostly unlivable. Recent administrations had become more tourism-oriented, and has promoted the re-generation of the Sassi with the aid of the European Union, the government, UNESCO. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels.
The main sights of Matera are: Sassi of Matera, the Tramontano Castle, Matera Cathedral, Church of Sant'Agostino, rupestrian Churches of Matera, the Baroque Church of San Pietro Caveoso, the Romanesque architecture of the Church of San Giovanni Battista.
Today Matera has about 61.000 inhabitants.