It’s easy to see why Matera has been chosen to double for ancient Jerusalem in films, including Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. “Matera is one of the oldest living cities in the world in terms of continuity,” Antonio Nicoletti, an urban planner from Matera, told “You can find older cities in Mesopotamia, but they have not been occupied in modern times. Where else can you now sleep in a room that was first occupied 9,000 years ago?” Estimates of the earliest occupation of the site vary, but archaeologists have found artifacts in local caves dating to the Neolithic period and even earlier. Read more: smithsonianmag.com/travel/mater-went-from-ancient-civilization-slum-hidden-gem-180949445/#vdUoYoLKjPxyAZzY.99 #Indimenticabile #matera #sudItalia #missing #italy #matera #travel #italytravel #intatravel #intaphoto