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🇮🇹Matera
Explore Matera's ancient cave districts, underground cisterns, and rock churches with your family. A UNESCO World Heritage city unlike anywhere else in Italy.
Your family guide
Matera: where your family steps inside a living piece of history
“Your kids will walk into a 9th-century cave home, then climb a bell tower carved straight from rock. Matera doesn't feel like history; it feels like stepping inside it.”
— San & Jo
Matera is one of those places that stops you in your tracks. Carved into the ravines of Basilicata in southern Italy, this ancient city of cave dwellings looks like something out of a film set, and in fact, it has been. But no camera does it justice. Walking through the narrow stone alleys of the Sassi with your family, past cave homes that people actually lived in for thousands of years, is the kind of experience that stays with kids long after the holiday is over.
What makes Matera so special for families is how tangible it all feels. This is not a museum behind glass. You can walk into rock churches still decorated with medieval frescoes, peer down into a vast underground cistern, and watch the golden light shift across the canyon at sunset from a viewpoint that genuinely takes your breath away. The city rewards curiosity at every turn, and curious kids will love every cobblestone of it.
Matera is also a brilliant food destination. The local cuisine is rooted in honest, hearty peasant traditions: thick legume soups, slow-cooked lamb from clay pots, crusty IGP-protected bread, and crisped sweet peppers that show up in everything. Sharing these flavours together as a family is one of the quiet highlights of a visit here. Matera is not the easiest Italian city to reach, but that is exactly what keeps it special.
Basilicata, Southern ItalyRegion
April to OctoberBest time to visit
Mid-rangePrice level
Best things to do
Why we love Matera for families
Wander the Sassi Barisano and Sassi Caveoso
These two ancient cave districts are the heart of Matera. Winding staircases, hidden courtyards, and cave homes carved from volcanic tuff rock create a labyrinth that kids absolutely love to explore. Let them lead the way and see where the alleys take you.
Go early morning or at dusk to avoid the busiest crowds
2-3 hours
Catch the view from the Belvedere
The viewpoint near Piazza Vittorio Veneto gives you the full panorama of the Sassi and the Matera Cathedral perched on the ridge. Sunrise and sunset here are genuinely spectacular. Bring a snack and let the kids take it all in.
The golden-hour light makes this the best photo spot in the city
30-45 minutes
Go underground at the Palombaro Lungo
Beneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto lies a massive 16th-century underground cistern that once collected rainwater for the entire city. The scale of it is astonishing, and kids find the whole thing brilliantly mysterious. A genuinely unique family experience.
It can be cool underground even in summer, so bring a light layer
45-60 minutes
Explore the rock churches
Matera's chiese rupestri are cave churches cut directly into the rock, many still decorated with ancient frescoes. Santa Maria di Idris, Santa Lucia alla Malve, and San Pietro Barisano are among the most accessible. The Crypt of the Original Sin, just outside the city, is particularly dramatic.
Combo tickets cover multiple churches and save you money at the door
1-2 hours
Watch the story of Matera at Casa Noha
This cultural space inside the Sassi screens a film about Matera's extraordinary history, from its ancient origins to the 1950s evacuation and its remarkable revival. A great way to give older kids context before exploring, or to wind down after a big day of walking.
Available in multiple languages including English
45-60 minutes
Hike the Murgia Materana Park
The park across the Gravina ravine offers hiking trails with views back over the Sassi that you simply cannot get from inside the city. The Ponte Tibetano suspension bridge over the ravine is a highlight that older kids will love. You can also reach ancient cave dwellings on the far side.
Wear proper shoes and bring water. The trail can be rough in places.
2-4 hours
Spot the Salvador Dalí elephant in Piazza Vittorio Veneto
Matera's main square is the natural hub of the city and a great starting point for your day. Look out for the surprising Salvador Dalí sculpture of a Space Elephant, which makes for a brilliant talking point with curious kids and a fun photo stop.
The square is also perfect for a morning coffee and pastry before heading into the Sassi
15-30 minutes
Our verdict
How Matera scores for families
Kids
The cave city is a natural adventure playground for curious kids. Cobblestones and uneven steps make strollers tricky, but older children thrive here.
Culture
One of the most culturally rich small cities in Italy. UNESCO heritage, ancient frescoes, underground cisterns, and a genuinely extraordinary history.
Food
Hearty, honest, and deeply local. Matera's peasant cuisine is full of flavour and very family-friendly. Bread, legumes, lamb, and local cheeses are highlights.
Nature
The Murgia Materana Park and the Gravina ravine offer real outdoor adventure just beyond the city edge. Not a beach destination, but scenically dramatic.
Budget
More affordable than Rome or Florence, but cave hotels and tourist restaurants can push costs up. Eating local and visiting on a weekday helps keep it manageable.
Planning your visit
How long should you stay in Matera?
1
1 day
Quick visit
See the Sassi, the Belvedere viewpoint, and the Palombaro Lungo. You will get a strong feel for the city but will need to move at pace.
sweet spot
2
2 days
Sweet spot
Two days lets your family explore the rock churches, experience the city at sunrise and sunset, enjoy a proper sit-down meal, and breathe it all in without rushing.
3
3 days
Deep dive
Add a hike through Murgia Materana Park, a visit to the Crypt of the Original Sin, and time to simply get lost in the alleys with no agenda at all.
Fun facts
Things about Matera your kids will remember
One of the oldest cities on Earth
Matera is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world. People have been living in these caves for around 9,000 years. That is older than ancient Rome by thousands of years.
A real-life movie set
Matera has stood in for ancient Jerusalem in major films including Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew. Its timeless stone streets made it a perfect match.
From 'shame' to UNESCO star
In the 1950s the Italian government called Matera the 'Shame of Italy' due to poverty, and evacuated the entire population from the cave dwellings. Today those same caves are UNESCO World Heritage listed and home to boutique hotels and art spaces.
Taste Matera
What to eat with your family in Matera
Pane di Matera
Must tryAny local forno (bakery) in the historic centre
This IGP-protected naturally leavened bread is made from local durum wheat and has a thick, crackly crust with a soft golden interior. Marked with three cuts representing the Holy Trinity, it is considered one of Italy's finest breads. Pick up a loaf from a local bakery and eat it with local cheese.
Crapiata
Local favouriteTrattoria del Caveoso
A thick, warming soup of mixed legumes including chickpeas, lentils, and fava beans, cooked with barley, wheat, and potatoes. Historically prepared communally on 1 August to celebrate the harvest, it is the kind of honest, filling food that kids actually enjoy on a cool evening.
Pignata
Must tryOsteria San Giovanni
Slow-cooked lamb or mutton stew with vegetables, herbs, sausage, and pecorino, sealed in a clay pot and baked for hours in a wood-fired oven. The result is falling-apart tender and deeply flavourful. A true taste of Basilicata's rural kitchen.
Peperoni Cruschi
Kids love itTrattoria del Caveoso
These crisped dried sweet peppers are a signature flavouring of Matera's cooking. Light, crunchy, and mildly sweet rather than spicy, they appear as a topping on pasta, with eggs, or simply on their own as a snack. Kids who love crisps tend to take to them immediately.
Fave e Cicorie
Safe choiceOsteria San Giovanni
Smooth fava bean purée served alongside wild chicory and fried onions. A beautifully simple dish from Matera's peasant food tradition that showcases just how much flavour you can get from a handful of humble ingredients. Great for sharing at the table.
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