Top Matera Seasonal & Special Occasions

This cooking class captures the true essence of Matera — a blend of ancient traditions, warm hospitality, and simple, genuine flavors. In a kitchen carved into the city’s iconic stone dwellings, you’ll prepare time-honored recipes passed down through generations, using fresh ingredients from the local countryside. Each dish tells a story of resilience and community, seasoned with olive oil, laughter, and southern sunshine. It’s more than a class — it’s a journey into the heart of Lucanian culture, one bite at a time!

The UNESCO-listed Sassi di Matera is both captivating and mysterious. With this guided tour, take a deep dive into the history of this unique rupestrian city, named a 2019 European Capital of Culture. Explore its hidden dwellings and churches carved directly into the cliff, the setting for a number of films, including Ben Hur.

1 - Large historical location of 300sqm of typical houses of the Sassi di Matera 2 - Over 300 types of selected local products 3 - Experience unique flavors among the rocks of the Sassi di Matera

Cover more ground and explore the UNESCO-listed Sassi di Matera cave churches and dwellings in less than an hour with this Ape Calessino tour. Buzz through the steep, narrow lanes to see highlights in the Barisano and Caveoso districts plus Civita, the town's historic center. Learn about the history of this unique cliffside town from your driver and guide and pause to admire the top sights and snap photos.

Learn to make authentic pasta the old farmer way, right in a Sassi cellar carved from ancient stone. Using the freshest local ingredients, you’ll prepare bruschetta, cialledda salad, and traditional pasta with guidance from a professional chef. Once the cooking is done, sit down to savor your creations in this extraordinary and historic setting.

Unveil the secrets of the ancient “cave city” of Matera with this in-depth walking tour through the UNESCO-listed Sassi. Delve into the history of this unique city dug into the cliffside and visit a cave house and rupestrian churches in its two oldest districts. Learn about how residents once lived, marvel at the cathedral set at the town’s upper square, and take in sweeping views over the Murgia Materana Park.

This wine tasting experience in the heart of Matera tantalizes the senses with a flavor that is both rich in history and vibrant in the present. It's a fusion of tradition and modernity, where ancient winemaking techniques meet contemporary appreciation. But it's not just about the wines: it's about the entire sensory experience. The aroma of aging barrels mingles with the scent of freshly poured wines, creating an olfactory symphony that sets the stage for discovery. With each swirl, sniff, and sip, the flavors dance on the palate, revealing layers of complexity and depth. Paired with delicious bites that enhance and complement the wines, the tasting becomes a culinary journey through Matera's gastronomic heritage. And for those who choose to indulge in the optional olive oil tasting, another dimension of flavor is unlocked, adding a touch of Mediterranean magic to the experience!

Live a truly unique multisensory experience. Walk through an impressive underground maze inspired by Greek mythology, discover the production of bread, oil and wine, and conclude with a pleasant tasting of local products.

Discover Venosa with an immersive wine tour that leads you into one of Basilicata’s most historic wineries. Explore the production areas, from the barrel room to the atmospheric underground cellar, and learn the secrets of wine aging directly from local experts. Wrap up your experience with a guided tasting of local wines paired with crunchy taralli—an authentic sensory journey that highlights the history, tradition, and true character of the territory. A perfect moment to experience Venosa through its most distinctive aromas and flavors.

Location: A private olive estate just 50 minutes from Matera city center (shuttle service available on request). • Perfect For: Foodies, couples seeking romance, and families looking for a hands-on cultural escape. • What to Bring: A healthy appetite and your camera—the golden hour light through the olive trees is a photographer’s dream!

Discover the historic Vulture wine country outside the historic town of Matera that most tourists miss with this exclusive private wine tour. Explore the surrounding hills with a sommelier, stopping at two boutique cellars to visit the vineyards and aging rooms. Sample IGT and DOC red, white, and rosé wines and learn about the winemaking culture and history of this little-known corner of southern Italy.

We will start with a small breakfast under the patriarch olive tree, in an old countryside. Later we will go through the caverns of an ancient farmhouse. Under the centuries-old olive trees we will taste Matera bread and prepare a traditional dish from Matera, "la cialledda", which tells of the encounter between the typical bread of Matera, now stale, and the vegetables and mixed salads of the Lucanian land. All this will take place in a laboratory, at the end of which we will share this meal as even today the olive pickers do in their breaks. The cialledda will be accompanied by Primitivo wine and from the bundle containing Lucanian Slow Food Presidium products: Caciocavallo Podolico, Baked olives from Ferrandina and Pezzente salami from the Matera mountains. We will also be cheered by the sounds of popular instruments and the songs of the Matera tradition.

Leave Matera behind for a wine experience in the countryside of Nova Siri. Your day begins with a private transfer from your hotel or accommodation in Matera, giving you a comfortable and stress-free journey to Masseria Battifarano. Once at the estate, join the shared experience and explore the vineyards, learn about local grape varieties such as Greco and Primitivo, and visit the winery to discover the main stages of production, from fermentation to ageing. The visit ends with a guided tasting of three selected wines — Le Paglie, Akratos Rosato and Akratos Rosso — served with traditional local taralli. After the tasting, your private driver will take you back to Matera, so you can enjoy the wines without worrying about driving.

Leave Matera with private pick-up from your accommodation and explore two remarkable sites in the Basilicata countryside. Visit the Crypt of Original Sin, a rock-hewn church known for its rare 8th–9th-century frescoes, with an audio guide that explains the biblical scenes and their meaning. As you explore the painted story of Genesis, you will also discover an intriguing detail: the forbidden fruit is not shown as an apple, revealing a different and more surprising interpretation of the original scene. Continue to Masseria Dragone for a tasting that includes a charcuterie board with local cold cuts, traditional bread, crunchy taralli, and a glass of local wine. After this flavorful break, stop at the San Giuliano Dam to enjoy a scenic view before reaching Miglionico. Walk through the medieval village with a licensed guide and visit Malconsiglio Castle, linked to the historic Conspiracy of the Barons. Wrap up the tour and return comfortably to your accommodation in Matera.

Our experiential tour offers a hands-on bread-making workshop, complete with an introduction to the company’s rich history, spanning four generations in the local area. The experience begins with an explanation of the ingredients used, such as the finest local semolina and natural sourdough starter. From there, you'll step into the bakery’s workshop, where the master baker will guide you through bread-making: kneading, proofing, shaping the dough, and applying the unique stamp that defines Matera bread. As part of the process, you'll have the chance to roll up your sleeves and craft your own loaf of bread. Once baked, your creation will be yours to take home as a delicious memento. The tour concludes with a tasting of local specialties in a cozy, designated area where you can unwind and savor the region's flavors. This is more than a workshop—it’s a journey into the culinary traditions of Matera.

Matera has a lot going for it – it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, European Capital of Culture 2019 and a cave city dating back over 5,000 years. Tour its historic centre and ancient cave dwellings, try local Basilicata food and wine, then choose to visit the cave house museum or a rupestrian church. Considered one of the most outstanding and intact troglodyte settlements, Matera's ancient cave dwellings, or ‘sassi', are the city's big draw. Beginning in the historic centre, we'll check out the baroque quarter, known as ‘Il Piano', where churches and palaces are built on top of the caves. Venture into the neighbourhoods of ‘Sasso Barisano' and ‘Sasso Caveoso' to see ancient ‘sassi' carved into the Gravina canyon and you'll pause for thought in the old quarter of ‘Civita'. You'll also get to try typical food and wine at Panecotto Restaurant, before choosing between an optional visit to the cave house museum or a rupestrian church, cut into the rock.