From one’s very first glance at the city Matera shows its ancient origins that date back to the far away Palaeolithic and that still survive in the primitive forms preserved within the town and its environs. Evidence of such ancient human presences was found at the foot of the Gravina (gravine) of Matera, in the Grotta dei pipistrelli (the Cave of the Bats), with traces of continuous human presence from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.

The foundation of the first sedentary community dates to the peoples of Magna Grecia, who created the first towns between the fourth and the fifth centuries B.C. In the third century B.C., under the consulate of the Roman Metellus, these settlements took on a more organized form and took the name of Metheola.

The first genuine city to be established here was named Civita. It rose to the side of the Gravina, and was dominated by the majestic cathedral to the sides of which the districts of Sassi, il Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano were built. This urban conformation is unique in the world and in 1993 UNESCO recognised Matera as a World Heritage Site of Humanity.

The Langobards conquered Matera in 664 A.D. and annexed it to the Duchy of Benevento. Later on the city suffered attacks and devastation due to invasions of the Franks.
After the total destruction of the city by Ludovico II (867 AD), communities of monks and hermits from the East started to settle in the area and they populated the caves of the Gravina, turning them into rock churches and crypts.
The Saracens, Normans and Byzantines fought for possession of Matera and it was razed to the ground twice, for the last time in 994, but the city was always rebuilt.

Between the 12th and the 13th century Matera became a noble fiefdom, and then passed under the dominion of the Aragonese who ceded it to Count Giovanni Carlo Tramontano, who built the castle that still bears his name.
Matera was nominated the headquarters of the Regia Udienza (Royal Audience) of Basilicata in 1663, a prestigious title that the city held until 1806. Today it is one of the two provincial capitals of the region of Basilicata.