Piazza del Duomo Cathedral

Apart from the impressive rose window above the door, the relatively sedate exterior of the 13th-century Puglian-Romanesque Piazza del Duomo Cathedral ill-prepares you for the neobaroque excess within: ornate carved capitals, sumptuously decorated chapels and tons of gilding everywhere. In the left aisle an altar dedicated to the Madonna della Bruna, Matera's patron saint, has a 13th-century Byzantine fresco of the Virgin Mary with Child.

With its 54m belltower and its position on the highest hill in town, the cathedral dominates the skyline. It was closed for restoration at the time of research.