The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera


World Heritage Identification Number: 670

World Heritage since: 1993

Category: Cultural Heritage

Transboundary Heritage: No

Endangered Heritage: No

Country: 🇮🇹 Italy

Continent: Europe

UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America

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The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera: A Unique Troglodyte Settlement in Southern Italy

The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera, located in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, is a remarkable UNESCO World Heritage Site that offers a unique glimpse into human history. This site is renowned for its troglodyte settlements, which are cave dwellings carved into the soft tufa rock, dating back to the Paleolithic era.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

This is the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, perfectly adapted to its terrain and ecosystem. The first inhabited zone dates from the Palaeolithic, while later settlements illustrate a number of significant stages in human history. Matera is in the southern region of Basilicata.

Encyclopedia Record: Sassi di Matera

The Sassi di Matera are two districts of the Italian city of Matera, Basilicata, well-known for their ancient cave dwellings inhabited since the Paleolithic period.

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Additional Site Details

Area: 1,016 hectares

UNESCO Criteria: (iii) — Unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(v) — Outstanding example of traditional human settlement

Coordinates: 40.66638889 , 16.61027778

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Image of The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera

© Bönisch, CC BY-SA 2.0 de Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)

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Country Information: Italy

Flag of Italy

Official Name: Italian Republic

Capital: Rome

Continent: Europe

Population (2024): 58,986,023

Population (2023): 58,993,475

Population (2022): 59,013,667

Land Area: 295,720 sq km

Currency: Euro (EUR)

Country Data Sources

Last updated: January 18, 2026

Portions of the page The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera are based on data from UNESCO — World Heritage List Dataset and on text from the Wikipedia article Sassi di Matera, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes made. Additional original content by World Heritage Explorer (WHE), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. WHE is not affiliated with UNESCO or the World Heritage Committee. Legal Notice. Privacy Policy.

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