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Matera
Inside the Convent St Agostino We have decided to make an early start today. We want to beat the heat and the crowds. We have plotted an itinerary that will take us through the Barisano district of the old town, an area that was developed by the more affluent residents of Matera. We are set up for the rigors of the terrain. There will be plenty of cobbles, steps, steep climbs and heat. Fitted out with good walking shoes, sun glasses, lashings of sun screen, our Italian sun hats, we look every part the Kiwi tourist.
We take a short cut from our apartment to the first stop of the day, Convent of St. Agostino. Men are delivering flowers for what must be a wedding. The view of the town from here is quite special. The sun casts shadows from the surrounding buildings and the sight is amazing. We walk on down the hill admiring views at every corner. We stop at an artisan’s shop with a variety of pottery goods on display. One display item is a model of the entire Old Town made from clay. We learn later the elderly gentleman who constructed the model use to live in a caveoso (cave house).
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A view of the Barisano Over the road is a reconstructed caveoso that now takes on the role of a museum. It was amazing. As you enter you find yourself in the centre of a three-roomed dwelling. This space has been carved out of the tufa rock. The kitchen forms one part of the space, next comes the room for the animals. In this setting there is a donkey, pig and hens. All these animals are necessary in the day to day survival of the large family. The last room is the bedroom for parents and maybe six or more children. The young woman who welcomed us said it was her grandfather’s house and it is her grandfather who works across the road making clay works of art.
Our destination is the Doumo that stands high above the town. On our way up countless steps we noticed blobs of concrete strategically placed so a wheeled vehicle could drive up the stepped street. The Piazza Duomo must have been a central gathering place in the town. There is a large area where the local people could gather. On one side is the Cathedral, another side has views across the town, and on the third
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Inside a caveoso side is a hotel which must be in the high end bracket of accommodation. For us it is at the other end of town.
Leaving the Duomo we emerge from a narrow roadway into another piazza. They must have been waiting for us because the piazza is full of TV Broadcasting vans, police, firemen and Carabinieri. Much of the piazza is barricaded off. Local cafes and restaurants have no outdoor seating today. We stop for a granito, something cool. We ask the owner what all the fuss is about. It turns out they were not waiting for two Kiwi tourists but the Premier (and not Sir John). We weren’t sure when he was coming but the number five was mentioned a lot. Meanwhile a woman from the official party was escorted away by ambulance staff. The wait was too long for her. We waited past the five minutes and still no action. After thirty minutes it was time we moved on. We were to find out later on TV the Premier was there as something to do with the Madera being the 2019 European Cultural City. Nearly 170 million euros are being spent on the city in preparation for
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The jumble of houses that make up Saso Barisano the event.
We have seen and experienced quite a lot this morning so time to head back to the apartment and think about today’s walk. One stand out feature was the experience in the re-constucted caveoso. What it must have been like. The mortality rate among the children was understandably high.
Dinner in tonight, a delicious salmon salad again, but with eggs. Then early to bed. Tomorrow is our last day in Matera and we have planned a big one.
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