Cave Housing, Matera

These pictures were taken in a cave house that has been preserved to show what life was like at the time in the stassi (see another post). There is no plumbing or modern services that we're used to. Life was lived in a space like this for up to 12 people. The one room served all purpose.
The 1st 2 pictures are different views of the same room. Sleeping, cooking, eating and life occurred here.
The 3rd picture looks up the steps to where the animals were kept at night. To the left of the steps is the cistern shown in the 4th picture. The water source for the stassi was rain. So they developed this means to collect and store the resource. In fact, each residence had a cistern, and they were all interconnected. In addition, all public buildings had cisterns below the floor.
The 5th picture is the top of the steps in the 3rd picture where the animals were kept. In the lower right is the sewage system: a clay pot with a lid that was emptied at least daily.
The last picture is one of the last residents of the stassi. The young boy is excited about a gift of shoes. I hope his excitement conveys how little the residents had, but also how much they could enjoy life.Read more