31 March 2024 – Roll Away The Stone

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 3,111

I’ve struggled for a title for today’s blog but I hope it makes sense later, especially given today is Easter Sunday.

What with the clocks going forward, we weren’t particularly prompt in getting ourselves up and about this morning.  We’d originally only planned to spend one night here but had already decided to burn one of our spare days and stay for a second.  So we luxuriated over our coffee and croissants and pondered how on Earth we were going to go about making our lunchtime sandwiches from what passes for a loaf of bread round these parts.

We felt that we had pretty much done Matera yesterday and didn’t feel any compulsion to make use of Gianfranco cabs to get back into town again today, so we spent what was left of the morning changing the bedding and giving the van a general spruce up before getting the bikes out of the garage.

Just a few hundred metres down the road there is a track that leads uphill and back in the direction of Matera.  Fairly shortly after joining it we came across this Church dug into the rock face.  The original entrance has collapsed and we were unable to actually go inside as a lot of these structures have been locked up to prevent vandalism.

But through the gates we were able to see an anti-chamber at the back which apparently has engravings of doves, animals and soldiers.

We had a quick look at some of the other caves in the area.

A lot of the literature you read about these places refers to “negative architecture” i.e. spaces which are created by removing rock rather than building with it.

Here you can see holes drilled into the rock above the hollowed out caves.  My assumption was that these were used to hold supporting beams in place for external structures to extend the living space.

We popped into a Visitor Centre which had some information about some of the flora and fauna living in the area as well as the man made structures to be found.  The Lesser Kestrel is very common here as it nests in cracks and crevasses in the rocks.  We saw a number out hunting despite the ferocious winds which must have been making life even more difficult for them than it was for us on our bikes.

The area has been inhabited for at least 8,000 years and there is evidence of walls and ditches from a neolithic village.  This tomb dates back to the bronze age and has several separate underground chambers.

The Cave Church of St Falcione with the Sassi of Matera in the background.  The protective wall around it is a modern structure.  You can only access these places as part of  guided tour.

Wherever you look there are caves dug into the rockface.  Some of them in places which are seemingly impossible to access without climbing gear.

The best views of Matera are from the opposite side of the Gorge so we cycled all the way to the Belvedere to have a look.  Gianfranco showed us a photo he had taken from somewhere around here at twilight with all the lights twinkling from the Sassi and the glow of the sunset behind.  It looked magical.

Another rocky outcrop which had been hollowed out either for a Church or a home.  Do you see where I got the idea for the title from now?

And one more with Matera as an atmospheric backdrop, just for good measure.

Back at camp, these guys are our near neighbours.  They are serious travellers having roamed extensively in this beast around Europe, Africa and South America.  They have a website (in Italian) at nimbusontheroad.com.  The specs on the vehicle are mind boggling.  They can carry 600 litres each of diesel and fresh water.  They have a washing machine on board, a “cheese cellar”, 4 x 240 watt solar panels on the roof and a BMW G650 motorbike attached to the back.  Imagine the looks you would get if you turned up at your local Camping and Caravaning Club meeting in that thing!

1 April 2024 - Into The Heel