The Sassi di Matera are among the oldest continuously inhabited cave settlements in the world, and the district as a whole was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. For much of the twentieth century the sassi were considered a symbol of poverty and were largely abandoned following a government resettlement programme in the 1950s. Decades later attitudes shifted, and careful restoration transformed the area into a celebrated cultural landmark. Matera was named a European Capital of Culture for 2019, bringing fresh international attention to its extraordinary layered history.

The blue-hour light captured here is at its most vivid in the warmer months, when clear skies deepen the contrast between the fading dusk and the glowing city below.