Online Encyclopedia

MATERA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 878 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MATERA  , a

city of
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Basilicata, Italy, in the province of Potenza, from which it is 68 m . E. by road (13 M . S. of the station of
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Altamura), 1312 ft. above sea-level . Pop . (1901), 17,801 .
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Part of it is built on a level plateau and part in deep valleys adjoining, the tops of the campaniles of the
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lower portions being on a level with the streets of the upper . The
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principal
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building is the
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cathedral of the archbishopric of Acerenza and Matera, formed in 1203 by the union of the two bishoprics, dating respectively from 300 and 398 . The western
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facade of the cathedral is plain, while the utmost richness of decoration is lavished on the south front which faces the piazza . Almost in the centre of this south facade is an exquisitely sculptured window, from which letters from the Greek patriarch at Constantinople used to be read . The campanile is 175 ft. high . In the vicinity are the troglodyte caverns of
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Monte Scaglioso, still inhabited by some of the lower classes, and other caves with 13th-century frescoes . Neolithic pottery has been found here, but the origin of the
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town is uncertain .

Under the

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Normans Matera was a countship for William
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Bras de Fer and his successors . It was the chief town of the Basilicata from 1664 till 1811, when the French transferred the administration to Potenza .

End of Article: MATERA
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