Sasso Barisano, Matera, Basilicata, Italy.
Known as "la Città Sotterranea" the city is centred on the cave houses called the "Sassi" (meaning "Stones"). The Sassi originate from a prehistoric
troglodyte
settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy. Miserably poor through the centuries and coming to represent a national shame, the Sassi were forcibly cleared in the 1950s, but they have recently seen the return of tourists, boutique hotels and Hollywood film crews.
Shot on assignment for the New Yorker.
