This impressive collection includes local Neolithic finds and some remarkable Greek pottery, such as the Cratere Mascheroni, a huge urn more than 1m high.
Museo Nazionale Ridola
Matera
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Chiesa San Pietro Barisano
0.36 MILES
Dating in its earliest parts to the 12th century, St Peter's, the largest of Matera's rupestrian churches, overlays an ancient honeycomb of niches where…
Chiesa di Madonna delle Virtù & Chiesa di San Nicola del Greci
0.34 MILES
This monastic complex, one of the most important monuments in Matera, comprises dozens of chambers carved into the tufa limestone over two floors. Chiesa…
Cathedral
0.23 MILES
Set high up on a spur between the two natural bowls of the sassi, the wan, graceful exterior of the 13th-century Pugliese-Romanesque cathedral makes the…
Cripta del Peccato Originale
4.17 MILES
A fascinating Benedictine site dating to the Lombard period, the Cripta del Peccato Originale (Crypt of Original Sin) houses well-preserved 8th-century…
Nearby Matera attractions
1. Museo Nazionale d'Arte Medievale e Moderna della Basilicata
0.08 MILES
The Palazzo Lanfranchi, built as a seminary incorporating an earlier church in the 17th century, now houses this intriguing museum of sacred and…
2. Chiesa di Santa Maria di Idris
0.14 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…
3. Casa-Grotta di Vico Solitario
0.15 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. Entrance to Sasso Barisano
0.17 MILES
Enter Matera's ancient Sasso Barisano cave district on foot, here.
5. Chiesa di Santa Lucia alle Malve
0.17 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…
6. Chiesa di San Pietro Caveoso
0.17 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…
7. Castello Tramontano
0.19 MILES
Situated on a hill near the town centre, this 15th-century castle was left unfinished after the unpopular Count Tramontano, seemingly unaware that high…
8. Museo della Scultura Contemporanea
0.22 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…