Sassi of Matera
The Sassi have been defined as a cultural landscape to quote the definition with which they are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The term "Sassi" indicates the two districts which together with "Civita" and "Piano" form the historic center of Matera. The plural declension therefore derives from this duplicity and not, as many believe, from the fact that a house or a room within these neighborhoods is called "stone". The stones are distributed around and on the bottom of two valleys, modeled by the flow of water, facing the so-called "grabiglioni" on the bottom of the same
Sasso Barisano is located along the road that leaves the city, continuing towards Bari and facing north-west, contains sculpted portals and friezes. Sasso Caveoso, looking south from Montescaglioso, recalls the cave shape of a theater, with houses arranged in steps. There are various districts, the districts and the names of the districts are as follows: u lammòrde, u paravèse, u pendàfeche, u mòlve, u chianèdde, u casalnàve. La Civita where the Romanesque cathedral is located separates the two valleys. At the foot of the Civita and at the upper edge of the Sassi is the plain, which is the post-medieval historic center, to which Matera extends after the depopulation.
