ITALY. Basilicata. Matera. Display in a church of cartapesta, papier-mache figures, produced for the Festa della Bruna procession. Matera consists of an old town of Sassi which originate from a prehistoric (troglodyte) settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy. The Sassi are houses dug into the calcareous rock itself, which is characteristic of Basilicata and Puglia. Most houses are just caverns, and the streets in some parts of the Sassi are sometimes located on the rooftops of other houses. The ancient town grew in height on one slope of the ravine created by a river that is now a small stream. 2012