After walking through Matera's old city and hearing how residents lived in sassi (plural for sasso), naturally I was curious to know what living conditions were like. Did they sleep in straw beds? Did they have dirt floors? Did each sasso consist of one big room, or were there rooms with walls?
Luckily, my guide took me to a cave-home recreated to resemble a typical sasso.
We walked into the cave, and I was stunned to see the likeness to a current day home. While it was an open concept, it had a living area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. The solid wood furniture was like much of the furniture in my grandmother's house.
The kitchen was a bit rustic, yet it contained all the amenities a family would need to create a filling meal. Iron pots, tools, urns and dishes were plentiful.
Lowering a pail to the underground cistern produced plenty of fresh water.
The only thing I had a real problem with was the bathroom. Here you see a bucket and privacy curtain. Yep - that's the bathroom.
Going deeper into the cave, I found separate rooms. These rooms were used more for storing tools and animals. My guide pointed out how cows, chickens, goats and sheep were allowed to come and go inside the house like pets without an inkling for the lack of sanitation that caused.
All in all, living inside a sasso looked very much like living in a regular home. But look closely, and you will see the carving marks on the walls and floors. The marks are proof how the home was literally dug out of the rock by the bare hands of those who lived in it.
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