Travel: Why Christ should not have ‘stopped at Eboli’

MATERA-Over 20 years ago, my wife told me about a new cave hotel in Matera. I thought she was crazy - why would anyone pay money to sleep inside of a cave? The hotel, Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita shattered this conception, combing luxury with historic authenticity, thereby providing a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

 The story of Daniele Kihlgren’s Albergo Diffuso in Matera follows the same path as the story of the city. The abandoned 21 caves, or Sassi, were purchased from the Italian state in 2004 and transformed into an astonishing hotel. Matera, the city, was referred to as the “shame of Italy” after the publication of the book, Christ Stopped at Eboli (“Cristo si è fermato a Eboli”) by Carlo Levi in 1945, in which he describes extreme poverty in the south.

 The city, one of the oldest in Europe, is made up of a honeycomb of Sassi, cave dwellings that the writer referred to as Dante’s Inferno. In the 1940s, the poverty was highlighted on a national and international level. The population was found living in overcrowded caves along with their farm animals. These types of conditions increased the infant mortality rate to about 50 percent.

 Photographers, sociologists, writers, and others all came to Matera to see the extreme poverty. This type of negative attention forced the Italian government to build new apartments for the cave dwellers then to begin the transition of evacuating the Sassi which began in 1952 under a new law from Prime Minister De Gasperi. The last occupants were removed in 1968.

 Speaking to someone who was born in the Sassi in 1962, Francesco remembers moving at an early age to an “ugly apartment, but the apartment had water and everything, and the Sassi were not such a nice place to live anymore.” Growing up in Matera, he said, “all of the Sassi were abandoned, they were free. Not like now, they were not a business. It was a place you go and be completely free, you could sleep there or have a party.”

 After over 25 years of abandonment most of the caves or Sassi were reclaimed by locals and entrepreneurs and turned into restaurants, high end hotels and private residences. Then in 1993, Matera was granted UNESCO world heritage site status and more recently in 2019, was awarded the Cultural Capital of Europe.

 Comparing Sextantio Matera Albergo Diffuso to his first project in Abruzzo, Kihlgren explained, "Any restoration project in the Sassi must take into account a town whose complex history dates back to the Middle Ages. The development of the Sassi of Matera is more complicated than that of the Apennine hill towns. The hill town owes its entire existence a pastoral history. Traditionally the Sassi of Matera have used more impoverished internal furnishings than the hill towns.”

 He expanded, “For the restoration project in the Sassi of Matera, we maintained the proportion of the rooms, used original and recycled architectural materials, hid as far as possible the modern technology used for heating and plumbing, and used minimalist contemporary design solutions. The unique architectural setting of the Sassi cave habitations of Matera posed particular questions for our conservation philosophy.”

 “Our project shows how you can successfully restore the identity of vernacular buildings. Through a researched understanding and an honesty with the building’s origins - combined with a touch of poetic license - you can recreate the soul of a building, even when the life lived there was one of poverty - as in the case of the Sassi caves. It is through such a restoration that we can come to know and understand the past - combining culture and regeneration in one concept."

 The owner, coming from a wealthy family in the cement industry, discovered the location for his first Albergo Diffuso in a village in Abruzzo during a motorcycle trip and decided to preserve its history by implementing his conservation project. After its large success, he completed this project in Matera and now has a third project in Rwanda.

 The finished product in Matera was exceptional. The small entrance to our room led to a large cave lit by candles along with some historic lamps. The limited furniture was historic or recreated using reclaimed material. The heated floors, climate control temperature and wifi made the room very comfortable. The bathtub and large bathroom really made me question how they installed all of the plumbing.

 Breakfast was set in the Rock Church that belonged to families that lived in this section of caves run by the hotel. We were welcomed by a large cozy fire along with cappuccinos. There was a buffet made up of local products, starting with traditional Matera bread, jams, honey. Anonter table held local meats and cheeses and a variety of focaccia. Fresh juice, local fruit and numerous local cakes and pastries were also laid out.

 You may recognize the city even if you have not traveled there. Many films have been shot on location in the area due to the unique historical panorama: The Passion of the Christ (2004), No Time to Die (2021), and Wonder Woman (2017) just to name a few. There are also numerous Italian TV series filmed there as well. Currently, the American series, The Chosen, Season 6 was wrapping up filming this summer.

 Hollywood has had a large impact on tourism here. Our walking tour guide, Alessio Leardi, said, “tourism increased by four times after the release of the Passion of the Christ,” which was around the same time my wife told me about the city for the first time.

 Sextantio offers many activities and excursions, including walking tours through the city by day or night and hiking tours through the regional park, Murgia Materana. This tour of the park will give you an opportunity to have the best view of Matera from across the ravine and a chance to visit some cave churches with historic frescos.

 There is also a gastronomic tour where you will visit a bakery and learn about the important role of bread and the bread stamps that were used to mark each family’s bread before baking it in the communal oven. You can also take a wool weaving class with Mariana with the last working loom in Matera. She will be able to show you how the textiles were made during the times of the Sassi.

 We chose the two-hour walking tour which really helped us to better understand the city. “We are always walking on others people roofs,” described our guide, Alessio, who has been guiding for over 11 years. In one part of the city near a rock church, he showed us tombs that were buried on top of other people’s caves while the residents lived below them. Alessio described the story of Matera as a “history of rebirth.”

 There were plenty of restaurants serving regional cuisine. At Giu’ a Sud, I was able to try fava beans mixed with chicory as a starter, then a cavatelli pasta with sausage and tomatoes topped with local sweet crispy peppers. The second night at Bollicine, I was able to order the local sweet crispy peppers as a starter and finish with Guancia di Suino, a slow cooked pork cheek in its stock over mashed potatoes. For dessert, I enjoyed local puff pastry filled with custard.

 The owner Paola, originally from Rome, moved to Matera with her husband eight years ago to open the restaurant. She said, “I have always been fascinated with the city,” and “my grandmother is from Matera.” She appreciates “serving the common local cuisine and using Zero-kilometer products.” The results were outstanding, and the digestive walk back to the hotel was much appreciated.

 The white Sassi of Matera stacked on top of each other like a white honeycomb would change colors depending on the light of the day. It reminded me of the Rouen Cathedral series painted by Monet capturing the changing effects of light. On my last day, I went out for a sunrise run, and the Sassi started to turn orange. The city was breathtaking, and I remembered why I have always been amazed not only by the extraordinary history of this city but also by the beauty.