Overview
A panoramic viewpoint over the Sassi of Matera
In the lovely Piazza Vittorio Veneto, overlooked by the imposing Palazzo dell’Annunziata and the Church of San Domenico, stands one of Matera’s most beautiful viewpoints: the Luigi Guerricchio Belvedere.
A small portico formed by three round arches provides access to a small terrace dedicated to painter Luigi Guerricchio, who was born in Matera and whose archive featuring some of his most important works is preserved in the municipality. The viewpoint offers one of the most impressive views of the city, especially of the Cathedral Basilica “Maria Santissima della Bruna”.
As well as the magnificent panorama and the buildings of great cultural interest, from Piazza Vittorio Veneto, once also known as Piazza del Plebiscito, it is possible to enter ancient Matera, which delves some 5,000 square metres into the underground.
Neviere (cellars in which snow was collected to keep food and drink cool), warehouses, shops and cisterns are precious testimonies of everyday life in the past. The “Palombaro lungo”, in particular, is an enormous 15-metre-high cistern in which rainwater, which was extremely precious for a city like Matera that has no springs, was collected by means of channels.
Piazza Vittorio Veneto, 75100 Matera MT, Italia
