Matera Private Tour: Sassi, Casa Grotta & Rock Churches

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/8

Duration2h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · DE +3

Mobile ticketAccepted

Stone houses carved into the rock, a peasant kitchen frozen in time, frescoes older than memory

A private guided walking tour of Matera's Sassi district takes you through the carved-stone neighborhoods, into a Casa Grotta furnished as it was centuries ago, and into a rock church with ancient frescoes. The guide is yours alone, the route adjusts to your rhythm, and entrance fees to both the cave house and the church are included. Two hours, small groups or couples, completely customizable.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Matera Old Town and Sassi

Introduction at Barisano stone
Explore Sasso Barisano panoramic points
Visit Piazza Duomo facade
Explore Sasso Caveoso and rock churches
Visit Monterrone rock and churches
Admire cave house with furnishings

The Experience

The tour starts at the Barisano stone with an introduction to the district's layout, then moves through the historic center and its panoramic overlooks of the Sasso Barisano. You'll reach Piazza Duomo to see the cathedral's 1270 façade in Apulian Romanesque style, then descend into the Sasso Caveoso to explore the rock churches and cave dwellings carved into the hillside. The route includes the rock of Monterrone and its churches before ending at a Casa Grotta — a typical house with the tools and furnishings that show how families actually lived in these carved rooms.

The Casa Grotta entrance and the cave church visits are included, so you step inside without arranging tickets separately. A private guide means no other groups, no fixed pace dictated by a schedule, and no rushing through a stop because the bus is waiting. The guide speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French or another language you choose at checkout, and the whole itinerary bends to what interests you — linger at a church, skip ahead to the views, ask about a detail carved into a doorway. Two hours is the standard length, but the customizable structure means you shape the day.

The Sassi is a UNESCO site built into the limestone itself, and a private tour lets you move at the rhythm that lets it sink in — the scale of the carved neighborhoods, the intimacy of rooms cut from living rock, the frescoes that survived centuries in darkness. This is not a rushed overview; it is the district on its own terms, with someone who knows it walking beside you.

What’s included

Entrance fees to the Casa Grotta and the rock churches of Santa Maria de Idris.
private guide in your chosen language.
walking route through the Sassi di Matera, Piazza Duomo, Sasso Caveoso and Monterrone.
completely customizable itinerary and pace.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Passi nei Sassi

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you want to move through the Sassi without following a group schedule or waiting for other travelers — the private guide and flexible timing let you spend as long as you need at each stop, whether that is the frescoes in a church or the view from a panoramic point.