Matera and the Mediterranean: A Dialogue Spanning Eight Centuries
There is a place where the Middle Ages meets the Mediterranean. It’s not a date. Not a legend. It’s a city. And that city is Matera.
We witnessed this vividly on Saturday, July 26, in one of the most evocative courtyards of the ancient city, during the lecture-performance by historian and writer Alessandro Vanoli, joined by professor Fulvio Delle Donne. The title? “Matera in the Middle Ages: A Mediterranean Story.”
A rich and imaginative narrative, revealing Matera as it truly was: a crossroads of cultures, symbols, and powers—where East meets West, North meets South, and land meets sea.
The event, part of the Fantastico Medioevo programme and promoted by the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, is a milestone on the road to Matera Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026. But more than just a cultural moment, this was a narrative gesture: a way to restore Matera’s deep identity as a bridge between civilizations—a role that is urgent to rediscover and share today.
In the Middle Ages, Matera belonged to a forward-looking political and cultural system, shaped by the Norman presence and by the legacy of Frederick II, a central figure in Mediterranean identity—secular, curious, and multicultural. And it is precisely this Federician Basilicata—with towns like Melfi, Lagopesole, Acerenza, and Venosa—that today remains a living stage of heritage and future, where law, knowledge, and dialogue come together in one narrative.
Fantastico Medioevo is the name of this three-year journey. An ambitious and widespread project that—through exhibitions, installations, public events, school workshops, and digital productions—brings to the forefront a past that has never felt so relevant.
The project, promoted by the Presidency of the Regional Government of Basilicata and coordinated by the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, is funded by the National Tourism Fund (FUNT) and the Complementary Operational Programme for Basilicata (POC), and is realised in collaboration with APT Basilicata, Lucana Film Commission, and the Normandy Region.
A future with a name and a date: Matera 2026. And a shared horizon: a Mediterranean that unites, not divides.
