Matera, a town in the past.
- Mar 27
- 2 min read
A journey through time
Matera, it is at heart a timeless beauty.
As soon as I begin wandering through the smooth limestones of the winding streets, it feels like each corner holds a story echoing from the walls, creating a kind of connection with a distant past. A timeline between me and the many folks who have inhabited these houses over the centuries. The Sassi of Matera possesses somehow an awareness that transcends the time.
Visiting Matera has been a dream of mine for a long time, yet I wasn't fully prepared for the beauty I encountered. I could spend hours only strolling slowly through these lanes. As I ventured beyond the outer ring of houses, the echo of my steps transported me to an era, where farmers hurried up and down the steep stairs with their harvests and produce. Only the sounds of footsteps and wooded wheels were there as life unfolded outdoors in the surrounding fields.
The limestone's colours are so nuanced that they resemble a painting. The rich browns of the earth, the pastel yellow of a setting sun, the greyish tones of inevitable decay, and the green or the ocean blue of the doors lend a touch of protection to these spaces. Today, just as thousand years ago, the light is reflected from the walls leaving the town in a timeless suspension.
Matera is a maze of exploration and discoveries: I am enchanted, short of words. It feels as if I belong here, as I would be part of the story of the world. This connection draws me back to an ancient civilisation and into a past I don't know. The walls are a silent story keeper, much they have witness and overcome. The moon casts shadows upon them, shadows once intimately known by heart.
An artist and a ceramist said to me: "it is a very inspiring experience to be able to create in a cave in the Sassi of Matera". This aura, flows time and opens a channel toward the present. This town welcomes you and holds you with grace from another time, making you feel as though you have returned to your ancestral roots.
In today's time, where insecurity amplifies our fears, finding solace and peace in what is still accessible from our past it is a precious gift, even almost a heartfelt and mindful necessity. In places like Matera, I have come to realise how the past has contributed to create the human beings we have become, yet it still does not completely define us. Here, we see how simple life could be, drawn by nature, narrow streets, arts, the sunrise and the sunset.
They say Matera, is one of the oldest city in the world. And even a bit emptied, it holds still its soul:
only because of the multitude of footsteps that have gone through is very own streets.
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