Ancient City of Matera in Southern Italy

An historic, hypnotic metropolis hidden inside the hillside of Basilicata. A tribute to terrain and a treasure trove of panorama, where ancient cave dwellings are bedrooms and cafés are carved into cliffs. Bordering Puglia, Calabria and Campania, Matera is a majesty of visuals, even by Italian standards. A Palaeolithic relic of legendary scenery and topography so dramatically stunning it has captured filmmakers, photographers, visual artists of every genre and travellers with the deepest thirst for history’s most spectacularly preserved present. Matera, that mythical Mediterranean location between the toe (Calabria) and the heel (Puglia), is mind-bendingly beautiful, a harmonious hybrid of human civilization and history built into the hill.

We had the magnificent privilege of experiencing two luxury destinations where history and modernity effortlessly intertwine.

An accoladed member of the prestigiously select Small Luxury Hotels of the World, steeped within a UNESCO World Heritage site, Sant’Angelo Matera is an undeniably sacred hermitage. Suffused into the limestone, surrounded by roughly 150 churches emerging from the rock, collectively creating an atmosphere that is at once ethereal and grounding.

In Matera, getting swept away by sensorial saturation is a given, getting lost, a rite of passage. Softly cinematic in its quiet grandeur, our room, with its central staircase and hammocks hovering above the castles, like every room, is shaped by centuries. It’s not just beautiful, it’s something mythic, storying, sacred. An alchemy of history gifted inside the present.

Rooms are nestled inside natural caves. Terraces treat you to astonishing views of one of the oldest places on earth. Authentic preservation is soulful, original architecture conserved, local materials exclusively utilized to restore, collaborations with local producers support the economy and maintain a standard of sustainability.

Breakfast (included) is served atop the suffused staircase – a splendid selection of sweets and savouries are served overlooking the Basilicata region, a breathtaking daily beginning.

And the restaurant, Regia Corte, is a reverie of exquisite dining. Authentic, intimate, with a masterful cuisine, all served alongside a heart stopping view.

In an effort to stow away some of that Matera magic, we signed up for an Authentic Italian Farmhouse Cooking Class. Here, the beguiling beauty of the Italian countryside envelopes you in an organic olive farm just outside of Matera, where partners Silvia (the daughter of the family) and husband Greg, guide you on an idyllic journey creating southern Italian farmhouse delicacies. The secrets of their homemade pasta, their EVOO liquid gold, the simplicity of perfect ingredients, the generational recipes shared. I cannot overemphasise what a fulfilling experience this was. Silvia and Greg are the embodiment of graciousness, learning with them is a master class. Their passion is infectious, kindness irresistible and knowledge of craft, seemingly infinite. You do not want to sleep on an opportunity to make Silvia’s mamma’s homemade pasta from scratch, in southern Italy, where the bounty is immeasurable, the eco-diversity enormous and the culinary history, generations deep. Feast on the lunch you prepared and feel wonderfully one with Silvia, Greg and all the Southern Italian generations before them. A true treat.

When you’re not exploring the cobblestoned streets and troglodytic abodes James Bond traversed before you in No Time To Die (the cinematic appeal of Matera is undeniable), you can take the suspension bridge up to the caves, educate yourself in the various embedded museums and take in sunsets that make other horizons envious. Matera is an otherworldly offering.

Which takes us to our second refuge.

Echoing the essence of a destination so definitively transporting, Relais & Chateaux’s Vetera Matera is a revelation infusing the raw and the refined. Following eight years of deeply conscientious restoration, its five-star luxury moniker is evident in every meticulous amalgam of authenticity it effuses. A millennia-old ethos meets modern-day swank.

Located in the heart of the Sassi (cave dwellings, a common phrase around these parts), the pure construction of Vetera Matera is an immersive ride into wonder and awe. As the only five-star luxury albergo diffuso (a hotel spread across multiple historic buildings), it holds court.

Italy’s oldest city is crowned by Vetera Matera’s elite accommodations and gold standard hospitality.  23 rooms and eight suites winding their way through an ancient maze of porticos and terraces, suites carved into the rock, spellbinding views from limestone lined windows, it is epically, unequivocally, an embodiment of earthen grounds meets castle on the clouds.

A bountiful breakfast (included) rich in local breads, organic spreads and indigenous cuisine is served in the outdoor courtyard beneath the strung lights. Artema, their fine dining forage into Murgia, Lucania and Naples, is a most elegant expression of Executive Chef Eduardo Estatico’s journeyed soul and palate.

With the option to stay in in an upper-floor Noble Suite (generally a yes, because of the view) or a subterranean Hypogeal suite, the opportunity to sleep in a cave dwelling was too irresistible to pass.  We stayed in Master Suite 5.

This trilevel refuge, this descending sprawl of space (over 1,000 sq ft) reveals an incomparable twist on the suite experience. The walls are art: limestone brick, travertine, a timeworn patina; arches and archways. The first level hosts a sofa bed and a bathroom. The floor beneath, a king-sized bed and a stunning, expansive bathroom. The third, a day bed and a wraparound marble mosaic indoor tub. Two days was never going to be enough.

The hotel’s staff are made up of the most gracious guardians: so clear on maintaining the integrity of these majestic grounds, executing zero waste solutions, upholding Relais & Chateaux standard and passionately protecting their surrounds through consistent eco-responsibility. A constant collaboration with local artisans and farmers assures the Matera identity will eternally preserve. I love this.

Every inhabitable nook, be it an open-air space to linger over an al fresco aperitif or a private spa within a suite, all are carefully and conscientiously restored ancient spaces. Graduations of panoramic terraces take you to mesmerizing heights. The timber and the iron and the travertine. Even their custom amenity line is formulated with aloe vera and EVOO, aromatically citrus with a gentle woodsy waft – the scent of summer in the Mediterranean.

And while we’re musing elation, the Elysium Spa. Every room booking includes a 90-minute private spa reservation to relish in their exceptional collection of relaxation experiences.

We began in the caldarium, an enormous circular spa pool inside the cavernous arches, where a gently heated hydromassage provides a glorious entry point. The Hammam steam opens the pores, purifies from the outside in. Follow with the Finnish sauna, where dry heat promotes deep detoxification, and finally, the Frigidarium where that famous power of cold promotes circulation and replenish. To top off, something they call an emotional shower. It is fragrant and I want one of my own.

Just outside the relaxation area – a private outdoor solarium. Tufted lounge chairs on a stone terrace beneath the Mediterranean sun overlooking the Sassi. A top tier tranquillity tradition truly at its finest.

Taking this relaxation refuge one step further, we each enjoyed a Massaggio Borgo Emotional (Borgo Emotional Massage). Capitalizing on the transformative power of fragrance (lavender, peppermint and bitter orange), essential oils and massage marry in this magnificent treatment within this irrefutable world class spa.

If ever an atmosphere had the ability to hover between history and holding up the highest contemporary standard, this haven has achieved it. The arches and the accents, the green that grows from corners and crevices, the glints of gold that light the night. The fresh cut blooms and indigenous art. The reason it holds the sole status of being the only albergo diffuso in the Relais & Chateaux portfolio.

Wherever you are from, I will bet the house this place will astound you. The views are poetry, the architectural rawness, the alchemy of every experience seems to be elevated by the next, where history has taken the lead and humanity preserved it.

Radical rehabilitation and a careful conscience for preservation gifted us what is now an undeniably majestic destination, an Italy lesser known, a siren for the most discerning world traveller. Matera is a tribute to resilience, with a history that will capture you, a charm that will captivate you and an invitation to enrapture in both, in the lap of next level luxury.

Both Sant’Angelo and Vetera Matera are benchmarks of a higher order of hospitality: testaments to the power of restoration, revitalization and the people who truly pledge allegiance to their land.

Fact Box:

Dining at Regia Corte (Sant’Angelo) is a spectacular memory in the making. Don’t sleep on it. Elysium Spa at Vetera Matera is available for non-guest bookings as well if you’re anywhere near Italy.

Swimming pools are not permitted in Matera, so if you visit during summer months, take note.

Get lost in Matera, it’s the best way to experience it. And if you hike to the caves, go as early as they’ll let you.

Jolie Loeb is a Luxury Lifestyle columnist based in Los Angeles and one of our longest-standing regular writers.

Photographs courtesy of Vetera Matera and Sant’Angelo Matera