Project

In 1464, Pope Paul II gave the Ciminelli family his blessing to enhance the church of San Pietro Barisano in the I Sassi district of Matera, the northernmost province in the Puglia region of Italy. (...)

In 1464, Pope Paul II gave the Ciminelli family his blessing to enhance the church of San Pietro Barisano in the I Sassi district of Matera, the northernmost province in the Puglia region of Italy. San Piertro Barisano is one of the most notable structures in a region famous for hundreds of rock-hewn, or rupestrian, churches; these treasures were carved into the soft, volcanic hillsides of the area from antiquity throughout the medieval period. Several of the earliest churches, established by Christian monks, occupied former sites of pagan worship in naturally-formed caverns. Later structures tended to be built in more urban environments where there were active congregations to sustain them. Though San Pietro’s foundation dates to the 12th century, its exact age and history are unknown. After its foundation by the Ciminelli clan, the church underwent multiple alterations, including the addition of a bell tower and colorful frescoes in the 17th century.

The rupestrian churches of Puglia were used and cared for until the 1950s, when poverty and governmental relocation programs forced residents to abandon the communities formed around the rock-hewn structures.