Matera is a city in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the `Sassi di Matera`. The Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in what is now Italy. The Sassi are habitations dug into the calcareous rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Apulia. Many of them are really little more than small caverns, and in some parts of the Sassi a street lies on top of another group of dwellings. The ancient town grew up on one slope of the rocky ravine created by a river that is now a small stream, and this ravine is known locally as `la Gravina`. This area, the Sassi di Matera, is a complex of cave dwellings carved into the ancient river canyon. Italy, Europe.

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