MUST: Museum of Underground Roots of Matera

In the beating heart of Matera, a city that does not merely rise from the earth but fuses with it — carved from tuff and from time itself — lies a place that offers a profound sensory and historical experience: the MUST, Museum of Underground Roots. This is not just another museum, but an open doorway into the most intimate and hidden soul of Matera, a journey into the belly of a civilization that learned to live and thrive within the depths of the rock. Entering the MUST means descending into a world where history can be breathed in the cool, damp air of the caves; where the roots of a millennia-old culture literally sink into the underground; and where every niche and passageway whispers stories of life, resilience, and a primordial connection between humankind and stone — a symphony of silences that completely envelops you.

A Journey Through Time, Beyond the Visible Surface

The MUST stands apart from the more well-trodden tourist routes of Matera for its commitment to exploring what lies beneath the surface, the unseen and the submerged. While the Sassi above ground tell a story of redemption and open-air beauty, unfolding beneath the Basilicata sun, the MUST digs deeper — offering an immersion into the artificial and natural cavities that for millennia served as homes, cisterns, underground oil mills, and places of worship.

The very idea of a “museum of underground roots” is a perfect metaphor: Matera’s history truly lies beneath the visible surface, hidden and protected by the earth itself, like an ancient secret waiting to be uncovered. The museum’s locations are often strategically chosen, allowing access to complex underground structures — sometimes connected to historic buildings or unexplored networks — making the experience both authentic and visceral.

The “Installations”: Living, Speaking Environments Rather Than Exhibits

Unlike traditional museums where artifacts are sealed behind glass, the MUST’s installations are the spaces themselves. Here, the visitor becomes part of the exhibit, walking through environments that are themselves archaeological and anthropological finds, wrapped in their own history.

At the heart of the museum are faithfully reconstructed rock dwellings, furnished with period objects. These environments reveal, with striking clarity, the daily life of the people of the Sassi — their ingenious solutions for lighting in perpetual darkness, natural ventilation systems, and the use of space underground. Visitors can see straw beds that once hosted generations, rudimentary kitchen tools that sustained entire families, and animal troughs beside living quarters — a vivid image of ancient coexistence.

These reconstructions are not arbitrary but the result of careful research based on oral histories and archaeological evidence, designed to provide an authentic portrait of a way of life that today seems distant and almost mythical. Walking through these rooms, you can smell the earth, feel the cool humidity, and hear the echo of your own footsteps, as if catching faint traces of the whispers and silences of those who once lived within these tuff walls — an echo that reverberates across the millennia.

A key theme within the MUST is water management, a cornerstone of survival in the Sassi. The museum dedicates ample space to this ingenious hydraulic system, revealing vast underground cisterns — true “cathedrals of water” — carved into solid rock. Visitors can observe the intricate network of rainwater channels feeding these massive subterranean reservoirs, a tribute to the ingenuity, adaptability, and engineering mastery of a people who made a seemingly hostile environment not only habitable but thriving. The scale and solemnity of these cisterns, often supported by rock-hewn columns, create a nearly sacred atmosphere, a temple dedicated to water itself.

Matera was also a center of agricultural and artisanal production, and the museum features recreated environments dedicated to these underground activities — such as hypogean oil mills. The large stone presses, appearing like slumbering giants, the oil collection basins, and agricultural tools all testify to the industriousness and self-sufficiency of a people who refused to surrender to hardship.

Some areas also include reconstructions of craft workshops devoted to tuff carving, ceramics, or textile weaving, highlighting the economic resilience and creativity of Matera’s inhabitants — true artists of survival.

While most of Matera’s rock-hewn churches can be visited separately, the MUST occasionally includes small prayer niches or private oratories, sometimes still displaying traces of primitive frescoes or votive carvings. These intimate spaces reveal the deep and pervasive spirituality that permeated every aspect of life in the Sassi, turning even the humblest cave into a sacred place.

Finally, to amplify the immersive experience, the museum employs modern sensory and multimedia technologies. Light projections on tuff walls recreate scenes of ancient life; ambient sounds simulate everyday noises — the clatter of utensils, distant bleating of sheep — while olfactory installations gently evoke the smells of freshly baked bread or newly pressed olive oil. Interactive maps and touchscreens provide insights into the history, anthropology, and archaeology of the Sassi, making the visit educational, engaging, and multi-sensory — a true dialogue between past and present.

The Breath of History: A Tactile and Visceral Emotion

What makes the MUST unforgettable is its unique power to make visitors feel history through all the senses. The cool, constant temperature of the caves, the reassuring embrace of the rock, the near-silence broken only by footsteps and murmured voices — all create a primordial bond with a past that was never truly buried, only hidden, waiting to resurface.

It is a journey that naturally inspires reflection on human endurance, on the astonishing ingenuity of adapting to the harshest environments, and on the almost mystical bond between humanity and the earth. The MUST doesn’t just show what lies beneath Matera — it lets visitors experience how people lived beneath Matera, and understand what it means for the city’s identity. It is a hymn to resilience, creativity, and the art of living, carved quite literally from the rock itself.

An Invitation to Descend into the Depths of Matera’s Soul

The MUST – Museum of Underground Roots is an essential stop for anyone seeking to understand the truest essence of Matera, going beyond postcards and familiar façades. It is a courageous invitation to go deeper, to explore the veins and arteries of a city that, like an ancient living organism, continues to breathe and tell its moving story.

Address: Via San Biagio, 15, 75100 Matera (MT)

Tickets:

• Full ticket: €5 (entry and guided tour)
• Reduced: €3 (ages 15–24, residents of Vimercate, university students, groups of at least 15 people, affiliated institutions)
• Family ticket: €8 (up to 4 people, at least one under 14)
• Groups with disabilities: €40 per group (minimum 15 participants; smaller groups must cover 15 admissions)

Opening hours (summer schedule until September 7):

• Friday: 10:00–13:00
• Saturday: 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–19:00
• Sunday: 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–19:00
• Monday–Thursday: Closed

Contacts:

• Phone: +39 0835 188 3383 (active during opening hours only)
• Email: [email protected]

Useful links:

• Official website: https://www.museomust.it/visita/
• Matera Welcome page: https://www.materawelcome.it/en/luogo/must-matera-underground-stories-and-traditions/

The last entry is permitted 30 minutes before closing. Visitors are advised to check the official website for updates or special openings.

Cover photo credit: Official website, Musei Matera