History

Florentines

Nei secoli Matera è stata una città di passaggi e di approdi. Nei Sassi sono arrivati mercanti, religiosi, artigiani da terre diverse, lasciando tracce nei nomi dei luoghi e nelle storie delle famiglie. Via Fiorentini, dove oggi si trova Dimore dei Mercanti, ricorda i Florentine merchants who had their fabric and leather shops here: a street of exchanges and meetings, where voices and goods came from far away.

Serb-Croatians and Albanians

Further away, the neighborhood Casalnuovo tells of other arrivals: between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Schiavoni, communities of Serbo-Croatian and Albanian origin, also partly linked to the Arbëreshe world. It is a "new farmhouse" that was born precisely from the arrival of these Balkan people, attracted by the Lucanian hinterland after the wars and pressures of the Ottoman Empire.

Magna Graecia

Even earlier, memory goes back to the era of Magna Graecia. One of the most fascinating readings of the origin of the name "Matera" links the city to the arrival of the Greek colonists Metaponto and Heraclea. Matera is the city that welcomes, bringing with it language, rites and symbols (such as the ox and the ears of corn in the municipal coat of arms, which refer to the Metapontine coinage).

Lombards

Again, Via dei Lombardi most likely recalls the presence and activity in Matera dei Lombards, Germanic population settled in Southern Italy starting from the 6th century.

The cordial and peaceful nature of the city, which once constituted a refuge or a new opportunity for life for the Greeks of the Ionian coast, the Florentine merchants and the Lombards, Balkan and Arbëreshe communities, today represents the ideal premise for Matera to be a city dedicated to hospitality: it is no coincidence that it was named the friendliest city in the world according to Booking.com's Traveler Review Awards. This prestigious recognition, based on millions of reviews from real travellers, rewards the extraordinary hospitality, cleanliness and friendliness of the staff in our accommodation facilities. A rule to which we adhere with great pleasure, so that your stay will be remembered forever, by you and also by us.