Altamura guided tour
The Apulian Lioness is a fierce city 17 km from Matera, a gate to the National Park of High Murgia. Easily reachable in 10 minutes by car on the SS 99 or by train.
Dinosaurs and Neanderthalians
Although the most ancient traces of life are literally hundreds of footsteps left by dinosaurs in a quarry, the discovery of the so-called Man of Altamura, the skeleton of a Neanderthalian, is even more famous, representing one of the most important paleontological findings in the whole world. The walls that gave Altamura its name, instead, were built in a double circle already in the Iron Ages.
The city of Altamura is a perfect complement to Matera. Both in the Murgia, they are in symbiosis with the two layers of rock of which the plateau is made. If Matera is excavated inside the soft calcarenite, Altamura was built over the hard calcar.
The claustri
The Old Town of the latter is held inside its inner walls. It’s articulated in
The stupor mundi
The history of the city is strongly tied to the great emperor Frederich II of Swabia, the stupor
The Cathedral of Altamura represents, without doubts, one of the jewels of South Italy. A true masterpiece of romanesque and gothic styles, it has been recently enriched by a Museum set in the matronei.
The famous bread and other tasty food
As many Italian cities, Altamura offers top class food and wine. Although it’s hard to say for a Materano, the bread of Altamurais, in fact, almost as good as the one of Matera*. Also, a tasting of the local sweet specialty is a must: the so-called
*They may actually be the same.
Length (city only): 2 h.
Difficulty: easy.
