Maybe I was there in another life.

Imagine living today in the same dwelling as one’s ancestors of 9,000 years ago. Some residents of the village of Matera, in the south of Italy, claim that’s what they are doing.  By living in caverns. I was there last week. With my Italian true love.  And I fell in love with Matera. It’s a fantastic place. In the 1950s, the government of Italy forcefully relocated most of the population that was still living in the caverns. However, some of ‘em are still there. Hold-outs for an ancient way of life.  Matera has become tourist-oriented.  And many of the modern buildings, including Hotel Sassi, where we stayed, are partly built into caverns.  The ancient part of town has become known as ‘Sassi di Matera,’ which means ‘stones of Matera.’  The town grew on a slope of a ravine created by a river that has since dwindled to a small stream. Archeologists say that the caverns were homes for the first human settlements in Italy. Long before Matera was founded by the Romans in the Third century BC. Anyway, being in Matera gave me a sense of a long, long time ago. Wish I had lived then. And maybe I did. Because I felt as if I had been there before.  In another life. –Jim Broede