Hotel Il Belvedere

Top choice in Matera


This cave boutique looks unremarkable from its street-side perch on the edge of the Sasso Caveoso, but you'll feel your jaw start to drop as you enter its luxurious entrails and spy the spectacle of Old Matera sprawling below a jutting terrace. Cavernous rooms sport mosaics, mood lighting and curtained four-poster beds. Two-night minimums apply in August.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Matera attractions

1. Chiesa di Santa Lucia alle Malve

0.15 MILES

Dating to the 8th century, when it was built as the Benedictine Order's first foothold in Matera, this cliff-face church has a number of 13th-century…

3. Casa-Grotta di Vico Solitario

0.2 MILES

For a glimpse of life in old Matera, visit this historic sasso off Via Bruno Buozzi. There's a bed in the middle, a loom, a room for manure and a section…

4. Chiesa di Santa Maria di Idris

0.22 MILES

Dug into the Idris rock, this church has an unprepossessing facade, but the narrow corridor communicating with the recessed church of San Giovanni in…

5. Chiesa di San Pietro Caveoso

0.24 MILES

The only church in the sassi not dug into the tufa rock, Chiesa di San Pietro Caveoso was originally built in 1300 and has a 17th-century Romanesque…

6. Museo Nazionale Ridola

0.27 MILES

This impressive collection includes local Neolithic finds and some remarkable Greek pottery, such as the Cratere Mascheroni, a huge urn more than 1m high.

7. Belvedere

0.31 MILES

For a great photograph of the sassi, take the Taranto–Laterza road (SS7) and follow signs for the chiese rupestri. This road takes you to the Belvedere,…

8. Museo della Scultura Contemporanea

0.36 MILES

The setting of this fabulous museum of contemporary sculpture – deeply recessed caves and the frescoed rooms of the 16th-century Palazzo Pomarici – is as…