Caves, Counts and Crusades Self Guided Tour of Matera

Overview

Beneath Matera's main piazza lies a sealed underground city — Roman cisterns, a ninth-century church, and a tank that held five million litres of rainwater. This self-guided audio tour of the Sassi di Matera, delivered through an app, takes you past what most visitors never notice. You'll learn why families paid for better skull placement on a church door, how an assassinated count sparked a city motto about patient revenge, and why Hollywood chose these cave streets over the actual Holy Land. Your guide covers both Sasso districts, the cathedral, and cave homes where families of eleven lived alongside their animals. Start anytime, pause for photos, go at your pace — no group to follow, no fixed schedule. Works offline in the narrow streets. Over 20,000 travellers trust our self-guided tours, and every booking comes with a full refund guarantee. If you want to understand Matera rather than just photograph it, this Matera walking tour is built for exactly that.

Itinerary

1. Walk across a perfectly ordinary square hiding five thousand square metres of sealed chambers beneath your feet.

   · Non-stop passage

2. Palombaro Lungo

   Descend into a cistern that held enough rainwater to fill two Olympic swimming pools — and find the lost buckets on its floor.

   · Non-stop passage

3. Belvedere Luigi Guerricchio

   Pause where a Bourbon fountain once turned the daily water queue into the city's main social event.

   · Non-stop passage

4. Chiesa del Purgatorio

   Count the thirty-six skulls on the door and notice which families paid for a higher spot.

   · Non-stop passage

5. Église Saint-François d'Assise

   Step through a trapdoor into an underground church that links a fresco of a medieval pope to the First Crusade.

   · Non-stop passage

6. Piazza del Sedile

   Stand near the boulder where conspirators hid before ambushing the count who taxed a city to build his own castle.

   · Non-stop passage

7. Watch the Wheel of Fortune carved into stone, then hear why a crowd tears apart a handmade cart here every July.

   · Non-stop passage

8. Casa Noha

   See a noble house stripped bare and turned into a screen that projects the story Matera spent decades trying to forget.

   · Non-stop passage

9. La Fontana Dell'amore "amarsi Nei Sassi"

   Linger at the fountain where young men once waited for the only chance they'd get to speak to the women they admired.

   · Non-stop passage

10. Piazza San Pietro Caveoso

    Recognise the piazza where Pasolini found a more convincing Jerusalem than Jerusalem itself.

    · Non-stop passage

11. Church of Santa Maria de Idris

    Crawl the same floor where penitents once dragged their tongues across ceramic bricks to beg the Virgin for water.

    · Non-stop passage

12. San Giovanni in Monterrone

    Spot the bilingual fresco where Christ blesses in two languages — and ask why neither tradition won.

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13. End where a poet who once called Matera miserable later confessed it was the city that smiled at him most.

    · Non-stop passage

How to use your ticket

Know before you go : •⁠ ⁠You will need to download the "Tourific self guided tours" app from the Google play store or App store •⁠ ⁠Right after booking, you’ll receive an email from Tourific or the tour booking platform with instructions to access the tour. •⁠ ⁠Having trouble finding the email? Just search for “Tourific” in your inbox or spam folder. •⁠ ⁠The tour is valid for 1 year and can be listened to any number of times. So feel free to download tour and experience a few stops before going on the tour. •⁠ ⁠Fully charge your phone and carry your headphones for the best experience •⁠ ⁠It is recommended to wear modest clothing if you wish to enter the religious sites on the tour •⁠ ⁠The tour follows a set route that we recommend that you follow. Once the tour is downloaded, the introduction will guide you to your starting point •⁠ ⁠Change of plans? Enjoy the tour on a different day or from home

Meeting and end point

What to know before you go

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Travelers

Cancellation policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

• From 1 days before : 100% refunded
• From 0 days before : 0% refunded

Reviews

Product code: 472599P142

Activity offered by Tourific via Viator.