A magical stay in Matera

Today I’m sharing the final leg of our September trip to Italy, and the part which I had been looking forward to most of all: a stay at utterly unique cave hotel Le Grotte della Civita, located just across the border from Puglia in the neighbouring province of Basilicata.

It sits in UNESCO-listed Matera, which is perched above a steep-sided ravine and famous for its troglodyte old quarter known as the Sassi (Italian for ‘stones’). Inhabited since prehistoric times, this warren of rock dwellings was dubbed the ‘shame of Italy’ due to its dire poverty, and in the 1950s its 16,000 residents were relocated to modern housing projects on the edge of town. The caves then lay abandoned for decades, but they’re now being brought back to life as homes, art galleries, restaurants and boutiques; in fact, Matera has even been named European Capital of Culture for 2019.

The hotel itself is the work of Swedish-Italian entrepreneur and philanthropist Daniele Kihlgren, who spent a decade transforming 18 of the caves into beautiful guest rooms. The care and attention to detail that went into the project are mind-blowing: every stone was upturned to allow underfloor heating, wiring and plumbing to be laid, before being replaced in exactly the same position.

The result is a wonderful balance of contemporary comfort and historic detail: simple wooden furniture, handmade linens, unadorned limestone walls, glass-fronted showers, egg-shaped Philippe Starck bathtubs, and natural soaps in apothecary-style glass bottles. Many of the rooms are cavernous, maze-like spaces with vaulted ceilings, and some have huge hearths where roaring fires are lit on chilly evenings. We had one of the smaller caves, but what it lacked in space it made up for with a sweeping view out over the gorge.

We quickly grew fond of cave living. Our room had no electric lighting other than a small lamp by the sink, but there were clusters of pillar candles on every available surface. There was something magical about reading, chatting and even showering to the flickering glow of flames, and we both relished the chance to slow down and switch off from the modern world.

By day, we spent our time exploring Matera’s tangle of steep, car-free alleyways, some now brimming with life, others still largely derelict. We learnt about the town’s fascinating history at multimedia museum Casa Noha, and we got a glimpse into the lives of its former residents at Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario, which has been reconstructed as it would have been in 1940s, when families of 10 or more shared cramped, dark spaces with horses, donkeys and chickens. We also took in Matera’s burgeoning creative scene at contemporary sculpture museum MUSMA, and Byzantine rock churches turned art galleries Madonna delle Virtù and San Nicola dei Greci.

Come evening, we headed to the hotel terrace for apertivi, served with platters of olives, crostini and local cheeses, as the setting sun tinged the ravine with pink. Then it was a short stroll to one of the local restaurants for dinner. There are lots to choose from, but our favourite was La Gatta Buia, which dishes up elegant twists on traditional Basilicatan dishes in a stylish vaulted space.

We were also treated to delicious food at breakfast – a feast of locally sourced produce which is laid out in a deconsecrated church warmed by a crackling fire. There are cheeses, salamis, savoury tarts, freshly baked breads, homemade jams and more, and we piled our plates so high that we didn’t need lunch.

It was a wrench to pull ourselves away from our little cave at the end of our stay and head back to the 21st century. As we drove towards Brindisi airport for our flight home, the street lights seemed a little too bright, the traffic a little too noisy, and the thought of emails and screens a little too daunting. I hope we can return to Matera for another dose of troglodyte life sometime soon.

Book a stay at Le Grotte della Civita here.

All photography by Abi Dare