Puglia Complete: from Gargano to Salento, dramatic cliffs, trulli, and paradise beaches

Matera is famous worldwide for the Sassi, ancient districts of dwellings carved into the limestone rock, inhabited continuously since prehistory and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Sasso Caveoso and the Sasso Barisano climb in a maze of lanes, stairways and frescoed rock churches, overlooking the deep canyon of the Gravina. The Murgia Timone viewpoint, on the opposite slope, grants the most striking view over the whole settlement, especially at sunset and at night, when lights set the stone aglow. After years of abandonment and a story of redemption, Matera is today a lively cultural destination, with hotels scattered through the Sassi and a Lucanian cuisine of bread, crisp peppers and orecchiette. Unique and cinematic, Matera moves visitors with its timeless atmosphere.