Julie Spencer, Town of the Sassi (TRAVEL 2020)

In the southern Italian town of Matera, I followed a sinuous laneway down into a haunting district known as the Sassi (Italian for the "Stones") where some 1500 cave dwellings honeycomb the flanks of a steep ravine. First occupied in the Paleolithic Age, the story behind this district is captivating. Continually inhabited for 9000 years, the Sassi is full of narrow laneways, ancient cave dwellings, rock-hewn churches, white tufa stone buildings and many steps worn slippery with the passing of centuries. Once a forgotten and isolated part of Basilicata, it is now undergoing a revival and may well be Europe's most radical rags-to-riches story. It has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1993.

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