Rock Churches of the Sassi

In Matera they dug out not only houses but also churches, with naves, altars and walls painted in fresco, cut into the same soft rock of the Sassi. There are dozens spread across the two districts and the Murgia opposite. In the Sassi you visit three groups with a single ticket from the Oltre l'Arte circuit: one to three churches, between €4.50 and €10, in a good hour.

What you see in each

• Madonna de Idris and San Giovanni in Monterrone. The church of Idris occupies an isolated crag at the top of the Sasso Caveoso, the Monterrone, and can be seen from the whole district. Inside it connects with San Giovanni in Monterrone, older and entirely dug out, which keeps frescoes of different periods on its walls. It is the most spectacular because of its position: from the esplanade in front you have the Caveoso and the Gravina at your feet. It counts as one single visit.
• Santa Lucia alle Malve. In the Caveoso, on the side facing the ravine. It is one of the oldest groups and keeps 14th-century frescoes, with scenes such as the Deposition, St Nicholas and the Coronation of the Virgin.
• San Pietro Barisano. In the Sasso Barisano, with a façade built in front of the excavated part. Inside it is spacious, with several altars and, in the lower part, the spaces where the dead were left to dry before their bones were taken to the ossuary, a funerary rite that surprises.

Outside the circuit, on the Murgia, across the Gravina, there are more rock churches that depend on the park: San Falcione is included in the Murgia Timone ticket, and the Madonna delle Tre Porte opens during the visits the park organises.

Opening hours

From 2 November 2026:

• Madonna de Idris and San Giovanni in Monterrone, and Santa Lucia alle Malve: every day from 9:30 to 16:30, last entry at 15:45.
• San Pietro Barisano: every day from 10:00 to 16:00, last entry at 15:45.

All close on 25 December and 2 July, the day of the feast of the Madonna della Bruna. In spring and summer the hours extend: check the Oltre l'Arte website before going.

Tickets and prices

• One church: €4.50.
• Two churches: €8.
• Three churches: €10.
• 8-site ticket: €25, which adds up the three churches, the Vicinato a Pozzo, the cave house on Via Fiorentini, the cathedral route and the diocesan museum, the Purgatory exhibition and the Bread Museum. Reduced, €16.
• Free: children up to age 10 accompanied by their parents.

There are reduced prices for people with disabilities, FAI members and groups. It is bought at the ticket offices of each church or on the website; online tickets are shown with the confirmation email and are not refunded. Oltre l'Arte also organises guided visits of the Sassi and of the Sasso Caveoso.

Getting there

All three are inside the Sassi, on foot. Idris and Santa Lucia are close to each other in the Caveoso, a few minutes from the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario; San Pietro Barisano is in the other Sasso, to the north. The Sassi are a limited traffic zone: leave the car in the upper town.

How long and with whom

Each church takes 15 or 20 minutes. With all three and the walks between them, allow an hour and a half. If you are only going to see one, make it Idris with San Giovanni in Monterrone, for the position and the frescoes together.

With children it works if combined with the cave house; on their own, the churches interest teenagers more. There are stairs to reach all of them, especially Idris, at the top of its crag: they are not accessible by wheelchair or with a pushchair.

Inside the rock it is cool all year: bring a layer in summer. Do not touch the painted walls.

The churches fit into the walk through the Sassi, which links them with the rest of the district.