Italy: Bari to Matera to Rome (April 29 and 30)

We left Greece on the ferry "Blue Horizon" in a light rain, but awoke to a bright clear day as we approached Bari. This is the city that Tom would fly to when he visited the Pfizer plant in Pisticci, and this segment of the trip was planned to show Patti where Tom spent so much time from 2005 to 2007.

We arrived in Matera early enough to spend the afternoon exploring the Sassi. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is comprised of the Matera Old Town

wich began with dwellings, shops, and churches carved into the limestone cliffs high above the river, at least 2000 years ago.

In this picture, at the top, on the flat part a little lower and to the right of the center is where they filmed the crucifixtion in The Passion.

As the centuries progressed, limestone brick rooms were built out from the caverns, and on top of those below it.

As the guide we engaged explained, roof becomes road in the Sassi. In addition, many of the streets are stairways. At the end of WWII about 20,000 people were living in the Sassi, many in extreme poverty as they had for centuries: with no water, sewers, or power; people and animals together in one or two rooms carved into the rock.

The Italian government required the inhabitants to resettle in more sanitary housing provided in exchange between 1953 and 1968. The redevelopment of the area began in 1986 and the Sassi are undergoing repopulation. Our guide showed us many examples of rock-hewn homes, shops and churches that have yet to be redeveloped. Many of the churches had been converted to wineries following their expropriation by the Bonaparte state in 1807.

We can attest to the improvements brought about by the redevelopment and the UNESCO protection. Tom stayed in a rock-hewn hotel on a couple of his visits, and that evening of April 29 we enjoyed dinner in a rock-hewn restaurant with Nicola and Roberta, (friends from the Pfizer days) and their sons Simone and Mateo.

The next morning (April 30) we retraced Tom’s commute southwest from Matera to the industrial park near Pisticci, where the Pfizer plant is located. Then we headed north to Rome.

Our hotel was a former villa converted to a boutique hotel, and excellently located near the top of the Spanish Steps. We were well positioned to start our excursions in Rome, but they would have to wait for the next day. After a light supper at the top of the Steps, we looked out over Rome toward St. Peter’s Basilica then called it a night.