MATERA
The City was established on
the Gravina di Matera (tributary on the left of Bradano),
200m above sea level.
The Town Planning of Matera City is of particular
interest, if not unique in its genre. It is built on a calcareous
ram of the western Murge and faces towards the deep gorge
of the Gravina with its sheer cliff walls interrupted by two
hollows (formed from two small tributaries to the right of
the Gravina): the Sasso Barisano to the north and the Sasso
Caveoso to the South. The “Sassi” (Stones) are
the old, picturesque, rocky landscape quarters of Matera,
with habitation for the most, excavated from volcanic tuff,
disorderly placed one on top of another, and often having
only one façade in brickwork. Following the transfer
of inhabitants of the “Sassi” and the development
of the industrial district, numerous new quarters were established
in the higher areas of the City and close surrounding elevations.
The origins of the City are to this day uncertain: after the
fall of the Roman Empire in the West (476), it was devastated
by the Ostrogoths of King Teodorico and following that, was
put under the Byzantine domination of General Belisario. When
the Longobards conquered it, it was united with the Duchy
of Benevento. The City was destroyed for the first time by
the Franchi under the Emporer Carlo Magno, and was rebuilt
during the course of the 9th Century, and once again destroyed
(994) by the Saracens, who expelled its inhabitants. In 1061
it was conquered by the Normans, and then passed hands to
domination by the Svevi, the Angioini and the Aragonese. At
the beginning of the 15th Century, it was given great privileges
by the King of Aragona and Sicily, Ferdinando I il Giusto
(the Just), and then it fell under the tyranny of Count Giancarlo
Tramontano, who was killed by its inhabitants in 1514. During
the 18th Century, the city was given the title of the main
town of Basicilicata, which it then lost in 1806 in favour
of Potenza.
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