Palombaro Lungo

Beneath Piazza Vittorio Veneto, the main square of the upper town, there is a cistern dug into the rock, 16 metres deep and about 50 long, able to store five million litres. It is toured on walkways, in a short visit that explains better than anything Matera's obsession with collecting and storing rainwater.

What you see and why it matters

In Matera water depended mainly on rain. That is why each house in the Sassi had its cistern and the city built other huge ones for common use. The Palombaro Lungo is the largest. It was dug in several phases from the 16th century, joining older caves and cisterns, and its last documented extension is from 1870. The walls are lined with cocciopesto, a plaster of crushed fired clay and lime that makes them waterproof.

When it was rediscovered, in 1991, it was still full of water. Today you walk on walkways between vaults and walls on which you can see the lines of the levels the water reached over time.

What the visit is like

You enter from Piazza Vittorio Veneto itself. The visit is short, about 30 minutes, and is guided in groups that leave at set times. The explanation tells how the system of channels that carried rainwater to the cistern worked.

Below it is cool and damp: in summer it is a relief; in winter bring a layer. The walkways are safe, but the floor may be wet.

Opening hours and tickets

The hours change with the season and the management does not publish its own website with updated fares that we could check. Ask at the entrance in the square or at Matera's tourist office for the day's visit times and the price, and arrive with time to spare in high season, when the groups fill up.

Getting there

Piazza Vittorio Veneto is the starting point of almost all walks through the Sassi: from its viewpoints you see the Sasso Barisano. If you arrive on the train from Bari, Matera Centrale station is ten minutes' walk away. By car, park in the upper town outside the limited traffic zone and arrive on foot.

With children and accessibility

It works very well with children: it is short, mysterious and easy to understand. There are stairs to go down to the level of the walkways, so it is not wheelchair-accessible, and a pushchair cannot go down: leave the pushchair upstairs and carry little ones in your arms or in a carrier.

How it fits into the day

Do it at the start, before going down into the Sassi. After seeing the cistern you understand the channels on the façades, the cisterns under the houses and the sense of the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario, which has its own channel and cistern. If it rains, it is the perfect visit: you are underground and a step from the square's cafés.