• Home
• Matera
• Routes
• Pictures
• About us
• Contacts

Sassi of Matera - by night tour

Right before the sunset, the “Sassi” of Matera get a particular colour nuance as they look like one of the famous J. M. W. Turner's paintings: the red of the sunset makes the colour of the facades, the narrow streets and the tiny squares even warmer and life seems to fall slowly asleep.
Suddenly a myriad of tiny lights appears and this mysterious and age-old human settlement magically becomes the biggest living crib in the world.
The thousands of little lights in the Sassi seem a reflection of the stars in the sky: this image has impressed many observers, so much such that the chronicler Verricelli in 1595 wrote: ”at the sunset the inhabitants light their lamps outside the houses, thus if one overlooks the Sassi, he sees it brighting as stars in the sky”, and finally ”[In Matera] the sky and the stars can be admired under people's feet”.

Because of that, some scholars of the past have supposed that the etymology of Matera comes from the Greek “meteoron” that means “starred sky”.
Allowing yourself a by-night tour in the “Sassi di Matera” means avoiding noisy groups and the summer heat to enjoy the peace of this unique place, its charme and its old-age silence.
After the sunset, Matera reveals its most romantic, mysterious and intimate face: after the guided tour, we highly recommend you fulfil an unforgettable evening by having a candle-lit dinner in a typical restaurant of the Sassi.

Tour Prices