Sassi di Matera

After leaving Sorrento, we travelled through the Appenines to Matera.

Here we saw the extraordinary Sassi di Matera, ancient homes and churches dug out of the rock. The caves were created in the 9th century and the buildings on top of them a few hundred years later. They were inhabited by about 20,000 people up until 1950, when the government forced them to move out over the supposed health issue of living in the caves.

It is also where the movie 'The Passion of Christ' was filmed, as well as the car chase scene in the James Bond film 'No Time to Die'.

It was a balmy 41 degrees when we were there, so we felt right at home.

After leaving, we headed to Alborobello for the next two nights.Read more