Sunday 16 May 2010

Frescos and Matera

Today we have been into Matera to see the cave houses and the frescos. This was the highlight of the trip for me and was one of the reasons for coming over early. I wasn’t disappointed and it was wonderful from the moment that the hotel shuttle bus dropped us off. We were the only passengers so the driver kindly dropped us off right amongst the caves.
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It’s an amazing sight – a wide ravine with caves on both sides but on the town side they have been built out or have been fitted with windows and doors. You walk across a garden and find it is also the roof of the dwelling below.

We found that three of the best known cave churches are further down the valley but we saw several and the frescos are lovely. They have been designed to fit the space, which they do really well. Photos are not really allowed but we bought postcards and I managed one or two shots through the door.

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All that walking up and down was exhausted so we’ve been flopping around, just reading and snoozing. Amazingly this hotel has a big, deep bath so that helped the poor legs. I am filled with the need to do some pastel drawings based on the Frescos so it will be a quick meal at the hotel and an evening of art.

2 comments:

Heather said...

Your photos of Matera are breathtaking Maggie. I love those little houses clustered so tightly against the hillsides and each other and the frescoes are amazing. Have a wonderful time and thankyou for sharing it with us.

designlouise said...

Sorry I can't bein Italy with you Maggie but I llok forward to reading your comments. I hope to be at your talk in Birmingham and hopefully I'll be able to do something with you next year