In the heart of the Sasso Barisano, on Via Sette Dolori, just a few steps from Piazza del Sedile and the Conservatory, a 400-square-meter underground system opens up, telling eight centuries of history carved into the rock. What began as a natural cave became a rock church over time, then an olive oil mill, then a wine cellar in the 17th century: each space retains the traces of a different transformation, each passage an era of the underground city.
The route passes through six cisterns carved into the rock on several levels, once the heart of the Sassi's water system, with water channels still visible and the presence of the statue of St. George. It ends in an authentic cave house with its neighborhood, where the tour encounters the everyday memory of the Matera community – not a reconstruction, but a space that was inhabited until decades ago.
The entrance and exit are the same, on Via Sette Dolori: the tour is a circular route that ends at the same point where it starts. Average duration: 15–20 minutes, at your own pace. Visit independently, with a free audio guide available in ten languages (Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Romanian) directly on your smartphone. No fixed-time reservations: enter whenever you like during public opening hours.