Hiking in Matera: The Savage Land of the Murgia
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Hiking in Matera: The Savage Land of the Murgia

Despite the sassi, the rock churches and all the other fascinating things that you can see in Matera, the highlights of any walk around the town are the magnificent views across the Murgia landscape. But this landscape is not only there to be marveled at. After all, all those bright lines that are zigzagging up…

Matera-Morphosis: A Town’s Journey from Rags to Riches
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Matera-Morphosis: A Town’s Journey from Rags to Riches

Matera is the ugly caterpillar on the tree of international travel destinations. 70 years ago, the town was the epitome of the backward, benighted Italian South, so poor and neglected that it was officially designated a national disgrace – la vergogna nazionale – by the country’s first post-WWII government. Today, it is one of Europe’s…