About Matera
Perched on a rocky outcrop in the region of Basilicata in the south of Italy, Matera includes the Sassi area that is an abandoned complex of cave dwellings carved into the mountainside. These caves were once considered the "shame of Italy", but today the value of this extraordinarily built environment is being recognized. Known as the "Underground City" it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world believed to have people roaming around its ground since the 10th millennium BC. The historical heart of Sassi plus its Rupestrian Churches became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Coworking venues have opened their doors onto the cobblestone alleys and locals plus globe trotting souls with laptops in their backpacks are scurrying in to get some work done before they rush off for a pizza.
This is a city that will have the history buffs wetting their pants at the thought of poking their noses around museums such as the Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario, checking out the rock churches etched with 13th Century frescoes and of course peering across a gorge to the caves "Citta Sotterranea" that resemble a biblical scene from a movie set. This town has been fought over and trampled upon in its long history and it wasn't until 1927 that it became the capital of the province of Matera.
Italians have creative culture in their blood, from food to fashion, design to wine and there are plenty of innovative tech savvy souls lingering over espressos. Major tech players such as IBM and Apple are opening up new tech hubs alluding to the fact that there is loads of potential in the Italian market. The government is instigating new initiatives to make it easier for startups to "start up", in light of the fact that it has always had a reputation for being bureaucracy-heavy.
Matera may not be a tech hub, but it does have its locals who have no desire to move to a congested big city. Coworking venues are giving them the space to mingle, to connect and to collaborate in the city that has been declared Italian host of the European Capital of Culture for 2019.