Experiences

Six things worth doing while you are here — four of them run by the house, two booked with people we know in Matera.

Nets spread beneath old olive trees during the harvest, with pickers working behind a drystone wall

Olive Oil Tasting at the Estate Frantoio

Taste three estate oils side by side — a peppery new-harvest pressing of Majatica olives, a mellower late-season oil, and a barrel-aged reserve. It is led by the same family who worked this building’s frantoio before it became a hotel.

2 hours

Best November to February

Hosted here

From €45 per person

Guided Walk of the Sassi and Rock Churches

A local historian leads a walk down through Sasso Caveoso and into two of the rock-cut churches, ending on the Civita as the light goes off the ravine. It covers ground most visitors miss, at a pace that suits anyone comfortable on uneven stone.

1.5 hours

Year round

Booked with a local guide

From €20 per person

A cobbled lane in the Sassi running under a stone arch towards the ravine

A rustic table set with a round loaf, a bowl of olives and a bottle of oil beneath an olive branch

Cooking Class: Cavatelli & Pane di Matera

Learn to roll cavatelli by hand the way it is still done in Materan home kitchens, then sit down to eat what you have made with a loaf of the town’s own bread. It runs at the long table under the press-room vaults, the same table dinner is served on.

3 hours

Year round

Hosted here

From €75 per person

Sunset from the Murgia

Cross the ravine to the Belvedere di Murgia Timone in the late afternoon, when the whole of the Sassi turns gold across the gorge and the day visitors have gone. We drive you out and back; the walk to the viewpoint is short but rough underfoot, so bring shoes you can stand on stone in.

2 hours

April to October

Driven from the house

From €25 per person

A rocky path on the Murgia looking across the ravine to the Sassi at dusk, a bell tower on the skyline

Wine bottles, glasses, bread and cheese on a rough trestle table in a tufa cellar, with barrels behind

Private Tasting: Aglianico del Vulture

A seated tasting of six wines from small producers on the slopes of Monte Vulture, chosen to trace how Aglianico changes from vineyard to vineyard. It runs in the cellar off the press room, with bread and pecorino alongside.

1.5 hours

Year round

Hosted here

From €55 per person

In-Room Massage & Wellness Treatment

A therapist visits your room with a portable table for a full-body massage, the simplest way to end a day spent walking the old town. Book at least a day ahead; treatments run from late morning to early evening.

1 hour

Year round

Booked with a local therapist

From €90 per person

A linen-draped treatment table in a lime-plastered room, with oil and a bowl on a wooden stool by a shuttered window

Tell us what you would like to do, and we will arrange it before you arrive.

Enquire