How did Mathilda change from an ancient civilization to a slum?

You know, when hotel guests clamor to live like Lodites in Trog, the tastes of travelers have completely changed. In the town of Matera in southern Italy, I followed a winding roadway to a haunted area called Sasi (Italian word for "stone"), where about 1,5 caves lived on both sides of a steep canyon. Originally occupied in the Paleolithic Age, countless natural caves were gradually excavated by farmers and craftsmen and expanded into living space throughout the classical and medieval period. Nowadays, these underground houses are being relocated by Italians, and staying in a cave hotel in Sasi has become one of the strangest new experiences in Europe.

is a cave complex called Corte San Pietro, and its owner Fernando Ponte greeted me with a beautiful silk suit and tie. As a caveman, the locals are happy to call themselves. The word literally means "caveman"-obviously it does not rule out being fashionable. ) Ponte opened the smoked glass door and led to my own refuge carved out of rock, which was one of five rooms excavated on soft limestone outside a small courtyard. Elegant designer lights cover the original stone wall, which is decorated with contemporary works of art and flat-screen TV. A smooth stone bathtub is embedded in the farthest corner of the cave. Of course, my cave has wireless internet access. Every time I brush the golden wall, waves of fine sand fall on the polished stone floor.

It is hard to imagine that the ancient Warren in Matera was called "the shame of Italy" not long ago because of its bleak poverty. In 195s, about 16, people (mainly farmers and peasants) moved from Sasi to a new housing project, which was an ill-conceived plan, leaving an empty shell. Ponte grew up in the modern part of Matra, stretching along the piano ("apartment") above the canyon, and was one of the first people to use this ready-made real estate. Around 199, he and his wife moved nearby and have been renovating this compact complex. There are five cave rooms and a restaurant around the courtyard. Since then, he has installed pipes, electricity, heating and ventilation systems to cope with the underground humidity. "My wife's family strongly opposes our living here," he said. "At that time, the Sasi people had been abandoned and actually replaced by wolves."

Working in their cave gives a new meaning to the word "upper fixer"-the pontoon bridge found eight interconnected reservoirs under the floor, which is part of a network to collect rainwater for drinking. "Before we started, we didn't know these things were here," he said, and we walked into the perfect conical space now. "It's full of debris." The reservoir has now become a "soul hot spring" for meditation. In 1948, a child played on stilts on a tin can in the village of Lord, Trog, in Matra. Later, a plan of * * * relocated the villagers to new housing projects. (Photo by David Seymour/Ma Genan) kasaka holds concerts and cultural activities. (Francisco Lastrucci) Excavate and unearth ancient cultural relics. (Francisco Lastrucci) In a Rupert-style church in Matra, murals in the 9th century AD depict scenes of the Old Testament and the New Testament on the walls of the original sin tomb. (Francisco Lastrucci) The painter donato Ricci first lived in Sassi as a squatter in the 197s. (In a Lubirian church in Matra, murals on the walls of the original sin tomb depict scenes of the Old Testament and the New Testament. ) The cheese maker makes whey cheese very well. (Francisco Lastrucci) Museo Nazionale Domenico Ridola Museum has a collection of local cultural relics, including many from the era of Magna Graeca when the Greeks settled in this area 2,5 years ago. (Francisco Lastrucci) This ancient town grew on the slope of a canyon. (Francisco Lastrucci) The cave on the side of Glavina Canyon faces Matra. Once used as a shelter for shepherds, some were decorated with ancient murals. (Francisco Las Truck (ci) A woman enters the Santagostino Church in Barisano, Mat. The background of the cathedral is clearly visible. (Francisco Lastrucci) Madonna Del Idris's chapel is on the top of the mountain of Matra. (Francisco Lastrucci) With people returning to Matra, the rhythm of daily life, including weddings, has resumed. (Francisco Lastrucci) At sunset, friends gathered in Murgea Park opposite Sasi Canyon. (Francisco Lastrucci) In their heyday, there were about 16, people living in Sasi, Matra. (Francisco Lastrucci) "What you see on the surface is only 3%," said artist Pepineau Mitarotonda. "The other 7% is hidden." (Francisco Lastrucci) A passage takes pedestrians from Vittorio Vinetot Square to Sasso Barisano's cave. (Francisco Lastrucci) A shepherd is still leading his flock in Murgea Park. (Francisco Lastrucci) Cows graze in Murgea Park and cross the Sasi Canyon in Matra. (Francisco Lastrucci) Murals decorate the cave walls in the Church of Notre Dame. (Francisco Lastrucci) Contemporary art by Antonio Paradiso, a sculptor from Martelin, is on display in a place that used to be a garbage dump. (Francisco Lastrucci) On the first Eucharist Day, children play in front of Di Santagostino Monastery. (Francisco Lastrucci) A mural of Chiesa Rupstri is well preserved. (Francisco Lastrucci) Guests of the Colt Sanpietro Hotel in Sasokaviso sleep in luxurious underground suites. (Francisco Lastrucci) domenico Nikolai returned to his childhood home with his son and grandson. (Francisco Lastrucci)

"You don't think caves are complicated in architecture," said Anne Toksi, an American architect who has studied Sasi for more than 2 years and is the author of The Contradictions in Martelin. "But I was stunned by their complicated structure." The most exquisite stone carvings can be traced back to the Renaissance, when many caves were decorated with new facades or the ceilings were extended into arched rooms. Today, the stone staircase still connects the arch, attic, bell tower and balcony, each of which is grafted on the other, just like a vibrant three-dimensional sculpture. Hidden behind the iron grating is a church carved from rock, created by Byzantine monks, with gorgeous murals inside. On the other side of the canyon, on a plateau called Mogia, more mysterious caves stare back like empty eyes.

It is easy to understand why Matra was chosen as the body double of ancient Jerusalem in movies, including According to the Gospel of St. Matthew by Pierre Paul pasolini and Christ's * * * by mel gibson. Antonio Niccoletti, the urban planner of Matra, told me: "Matra is one of the oldest cities in the world in terms of continuity." . "You can find old cities in Mesopotamia, but they have not been occupied in modern times. Can you still sleep in the room where you first lived 9 years ago? "Estimates of the earliest occupation of the site vary, but archaeologists have found cultural relics dating back to the Neolithic Age or even earlier in local caves."

At the same time, the modern transformation of Sasi's history has always been infinitely creative. In addition to cave hotels, there are now cave restaurants, cave cafes, cave galleries and cave clubs. There is an underground swimming pool, which evokes the heat wave of ancient Rome, and the lights on the ceiling create hypnotic water patterns. There is also a museum of contemporary art, MUSMA, which has its own underground network. What stands out? -Sculpture. A cave complex is occupied by a computer software company with nearly 5 employees. Visitors to Matra can walk along the metal sidewalk through a huge 16th century reservoir complex under the main square, including 5-foot-deep and 24-foot-long caves, which were discovered and explored by scuba divers in 1991.

"Sassi is like Swiss cheese, full of tunnels and caves," said Peppino Mitarotonda, an artist who renovated it in cooperation with the Zetema Foundation, a local cultural group. "What you see on the surface is only 3%. The other 7% is hidden. "

In southern Italy, the past often helps to save the present. Since the excavation of Pompeii in the 18th century brought great tourism to Naples, historical sites have attracted foreign tourists to poor outposts. But Matra is probably the most radical self-made story in Europe. Located at the instep of Italian boots, this town has always been an isolated and forgotten basilica region, and it is one of the regions with the least population, the least visits and the least understanding in Italy. Even in the 19th century, few travelers ventured across this arid and desolate land, which was full of bandits. The rare explorers who stumbled upon Matra were puzzled by the upside-down world of Sasi people. At their peak, 16, people lived one by one, palaces and chapels were mixed in cave houses, and the cemetery was actually built on the roof of the church.

Matera's obscurity ended in 1945. When Italian artist and writer Carlo Levy published his memoir "Christ stays in Eboli", he told about his political exile in fascist basilicata. Levy vividly depicts a forgotten rural world, which has fallen into extreme poverty since risorgimento in 187. The title of this book refers to the town of Eboli near Naples, suggesting that Christianity and civilization have never gone deep into the south, leaving a pagan and lawless land full of ancient superstitions. Some shepherds are still considered to communicate with wolves. Levitt didn't mention the "tragic beauty" and the rotten illusion atmosphere of the Sasi family-"just like a pupil's view of Dante's hell," he wrote. Due to malaria, the prehistoric caves in the town have become "black holes" full of filth and diseases. Animals in barns are kept in damp corners, chickens run around the dining table, infant mortality is alarmingly high, trachoma and dysentery occur.

Levy's book caused a sensation in postwar Italy, and Sasi became a notorious Nazi and a national disgrace. Alcide Gasperi, the Italian Prime Minister, was shocked after a visit in 195. He launched a strict plan to relocate all the population of Sasi to new housing development projects. Italy's Marshall Plan is well funded, and American experts such as Friedrich Friedmann, a philosophy professor at the University of Arkansas, came here together with Italian scholars who studied the large-scale rural relocation project of Tennessee Valley Authority in the 193s. These new public buildings were designed by the most avant-garde architects in Italy, and their utopian design concept was misled. In the next few years, these new public buildings will actually isolate families in dark and claustrophobic boxes.

, Sasi people have been emptied, "Niccoletti said. "It became a ghost town." Some Martelin officials suggested that the whole area should be fenced off and forgotten. Instead, the old lanes became overgrown and disrepair, and Sasi people soon became famous for their crimes, attracting drug dealers, thieves and smugglers. At the same time, it is difficult for the former residents of the Sasi nationality to adapt to their new residence.

Many relocated families pretend that they are from other parts of southern Italy. Antonio Niccoletti, a planner, was puzzled that his own father, Domenico, had never been to Sasi River since his family moved in 1956, when domenico was 2 years old, even though his new home was less than half a mile away from Sasi River. I asked his father if he could consider revisiting his ancestral home now. A few days later, I got the answer. Accompanied by his two sons and two grandchildren, Mr Niccoletti will try to find his hometown.

It's like the Italian version of "This is your life" when we met in a cafe on the top of Sasi Mountain. It was a Sunday, and the extended family had just come out of church service, dressed in fresh clothes and chatting excitedly while drinking strong coffee. They politely bid farewell to Bishop domenico, 78-year-old domenico, a short, calm man in a three-piece gray suit with a wisp of silver hair. When we all walked down the smooth steps, a drizzle enveloped the stone alley and an unforgettable mist. Mr. Niccoletti watched around Sasi more and more excitedly. He suddenly stopped by a broken staircase: "There used to be a well here, where I got water when I was a child," he said, obviously shaken. "I once tripped here and hurt my leg. A few steps later, he pointed to the house that looked like a Hobbit. The house was built underground and led to a small courtyard under the stairs. "That's our home."

he pretended to wipe his glasses, and tears welled up in his eyes.

As cool as a cucumber, Mr. Niccoletti said, "Of course, life here is very hard without running water and electricity. Count Corraggio, these women are brave. But its beauty lies in the community. We know every family.

"My father has some very dark memories of Sasi people," Antonio added. "But he is also nostalgic for its social life. People live outside in vicinato or in the courtyard, just like a Little Square. Children are playing, men are chatting, and women are peeling peas with their neighbors. They helped each other in all kinds of difficulties. "This traditional life attracted photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson. In the 195s, they photographed a mythical Italy. The priest wore a black hat and rode a donkey through a stone alley. The arch was covered with clothes, and women in embroidered dresses lined up in a public well, carrying leather buckets. "But when they moved, the community completely collapsed."

while we were talking, a young woman looked at us through the small window of the cave house. She explained that she rented it from the city ten years ago and offered to show us around. The rough walls are now painted with lime to seal the rocks, but the layout has not changed. Mr. Niccoletti showed us the place where he and his three sisters used to sleep on straw mats separated by curtains. He found a place in the kitchen where his mother built a fake wall to hide valuables from the Nazis, including his sister's linen dowry. One of his earliest memories is that his father returned to Matra after moving to Germany to become a laborer. The family hasn't heard from him for two years. "I ran over.