I hope everyone survived the storm unscathed? We lost power for two days, and my brother-in-law cleaned out our freezers. Melted ice cream made a mess. Otherwise no issues.

During the past year we have visited Greece, known for ancient history and architecture. Then we went to Egypt, where artifacts dating back 4,500 years seemed far more ancient. Now we have been to Matera, Italy where caves were first occupied in the Paleolithic Age (beginning 3 million years ago and with human form dating back 28,000 years ago). The 1500 natural caves were gradually burrowed deeper and expanded into living spaces by peasants and artisans throughout the classical and medieval eras.

In the 1950’s the few remaining residents were required to relocate to a “housing project” developed by the government. Then beginning in the 1990’s the historic value of The Sassi (Italian for The Stones) became appreciated and citizens were offered caves as “land grants” if they would restore them. Such a project was of course the granddaddy of all renovation projects, and took years. During the process people frequently discovered an actual network of caves augmented by a vast array of cisterns built very long ago as the water supply. It was architecturally and physically challenging. Today a few people still live in their renovated caves. Most have become hotels, restaurants and tourist experiences.

To be honest, we were not aware of the long history when we opted for this experience. It just sounded like something cool and different to do. At first we booked a room in an authentic cave, then discovered that dampness and having to traverse the uneven floors to connected caves for the bathroom in the middle of the night would likely impact the experience. So we ended up at the Aquatico Hotel and Spa, where we slept in a very nice (and quite modern) cave, dined morning and evening in a cave, swam in their amazing cave pool and even had massages in a cave.

The village of Matera is peaceful and beautiful. It has been the setting for some famous movies, and is quite hilly with many steps. Staying in one of the Sassi’s cave hotels has apparently become one of Europe’s more different and new experiences. Where else can you stay in a room that was first occupied 9,000 years ago? We did it all, and loved it.