• Director(s):

    VENNEMANI (Jean-Michel), DIVERS

  • Producer(s):

    SYSTEM TV, ARTE FRANCE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    2014

  • Language(s):

    German, French

  • Rights:

    TV, DVD, NON-THEATRICAL, INTERNET, VOD

In South East Italy, in the region of Basilicate, a series of ravines – “gravines” – stretch across the limestone plateau of the Murgia, between the Ionian and Adriatic coasts.

The houses and churches of Matera are all extensions of natural caves. For thousands of years Man cut into the rock to form dwellings, and some 150 Rupestrian Churches there feature intact frescoes. The area’s outstanding heritage has been classified by UNESCO. Until the 19th century, the poorest farm workers lived in these troglodyte dwellings, known as “Sassi”. Today, locals are very proud of the Sassi, where tourists can redicover an ancestral way of life