On Saturday 26 September the ancient ritual of light and music transformed the Sassi of Matera into a sky full of stars. Matera Cielo Stellato® returned, promoted together with the Municipality of Matera as part of the programme of Matera 2026 – Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue. Thousands of residents and visitors followed the event from the city’s viewpoints and along the narrow streets of the district.

At the sound of a trumpet 2026 candles lit up the streets and stairways thanks to the extraordinary collaboration of 45 local associations, 728 residents of the Sasso Barisano and Piano districts, together with 86 accommodation facilities, 32 restaurants and food businesses, 16 shops, 6 artisan workshops and 5 companies. For one evening, the district switched off 2,500 electric lights, controlled by a thousand switches, and entrusted its illumination to 2,026 flames, lit one by one. Seen from above, the Sasso Barisano looked like a starry sky.

The tradition dates back to the mid-15th century and was associated with visits to Matera by distinguished guests. In the 16th century, Leandro Alberti described how, at sunset, the town crier would instruct every family living in the Sassi to place a lamp outside their home: from the upper part of the city, it seemed as though the sky lay beneath one’s feet. The last records of the custom date back to the early 19th century. The ritual returned to the Sasso Barisano in 2013, based on an idea by Francesco Foschino, during the years of Matera’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture. In 2019, the lights were lit for the opening ceremony; in 2021 and 2022, they illuminated the night of San Lorenzo; and last September they returned to the Sasso Barisano to mark the arrival of the Mediterranean Capital. Since that edition, Matera Cielo Stellato® has been held every year on the last Saturday of September.

On the steps of the Cathedral in Piazza Duomo, the Associazione Corale Cantori Materani, conducted by Alessandra Barbaro, and the Coro della Polifonica Materana Pierluigi da Palestrina, conducted by Carmine Antonio Catenazzo, performed songs from Matera’s musical tradition, rearranged for choir, alongside pieces in Spanish, French, Hebrew and Arabic, as well as in Neapolitan, Sardinian and Sicilian dialects. These languages carry within their vocabulary and rhythms centuries of exchange among the peoples of the Mediterranean. The two choirs alternated as if engaged in a dialogue across the square, before coming together for the closing piece, An Irish Blessing. Between their performances, the voice of Badrya Razem, an Italian-Algerian singer and Jazz Singing lecturer at the Cilea Conservatory in Reggio Calabria, connected the different stages of the musical journey through her microtonal inflections. Razem opened the programme with the Palestinian lullaby Yumma Mwel el hawa and later performed the Ave Maria in Arabic.

The Polifonica performed the traditional Matera song La Candenére, the Neapolitan tarantella Cicerenella, Michele Turnu’s Luna, E si fussi pisci in Luciano Berio’s arrangement, Javier Busto’s Esta tierra, and Canto di fraternità, based on a Hebrew melody. The Cantori Materani performed two pieces from the city’s musical tradition arranged by Damiano D’Ambrosio, Cupa cupa and the lullaby U ’llup s’è manget la pichiredd. The programme also included the Sardinian song A Diosa, Santa Lucia luntana, Pierre Certon’s Renaissance chanson Je ne l’ose dire, and Le voci del creato, composed by Saverio Mercadante to verses by Silvio Pellico.

Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019 and the Municipality of Matera would like to thank the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina and the Parish of San Giovanni Battista, the Parco della Murgia Materana, the Soprintendenza di Basilicata, Fondazione Sassi, La Porta dei Parchi and Oltrelarte. Special thanks also go to the Local Police for monitoring access points, to the stewards and Open Culture 2019 Volunteers for assisting the public, to City Green Light for switching off the public lighting, to the technical service team for sound amplification, to Cosp for the disposal of the candles, and to engineer Alessandra Pierucci for the safety plan. Our thanks also go to the journalists who covered the evening and to everyone who shared images and stories from the event on social media.

A total of 45 associations took care of illuminating the district and will also be responsible for collecting the candles.