Cattedrale, a photo from Matera, Basilicata

Photographer's Note

Cathedral - Matera
The Cathedral of Matera was completed in 1270, and built in the "civita", the highest and most visible point of the city where the first inhabited center of the Sassi rose, on the area of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Eustace consecrated in 1082, and , as it was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century during the construction works for the foundations of the adjacent building of the Archdiocesan Seminary, it was built on an artificial embankment to further raise its position (it remains visible from all points of the ancient city and from the surrounding countryside). During the aforementioned works, deep trenches were dug, revealing all the ancient habitation layers of the city in 12 meters, as they descended in depth: medieval dwellings, an early Christian church and houses from the same period, Byzantine finds such as coins and architectural remains , another floor of Roman dwellings, Greek sepulchres with important vases that are part of the typical funerary equipment and finally remains of pottery that was characteristic of the early Iron Age. A "radiograph", in short, of the ancient life of Matera.
The building is in Apulian Romanesque style and has an exterior rich in strongly symbolic elements that recall the spiritual life of the time. The main façade faces the valley of the Sasso Barisano and presents, on the main door surrounded by delicate floral decorations, the statue of the Madonna della Bruna, the patron saint of the city, while in the niches on the sides of the door are on the left San Paolo and on the right Saint Peter. In the external lateral niches we can see on the left San Teopista and on the right Sant’Eustachio, minor patrons of Matera. The statues are attributable to the Persians, a Materan family very artistically active in the middle of the '500.
The central rosette is instead made up of small columns and small arches and recalls a theme very much in vogue at the time: the wheel of fortune, the game of fate. It is dominated by the Archangel Michael who crushes the dragon and surrounded by figures of people who seem to represent the emerging social classes of the time: a rich man on the right, a craftsman on the left, a nobleman below.

Fis2, holmertz, ChrisJ, snunney, jhm, PiotrF, pierrefonds, macjake, ktanska, tyro, mcmtanyel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Fis2 (142685) 2019-05-17 0:37

Witaj Silvio!
Beautiful old architekture, I love it.
I like a rosette and tower.
Good framing, colors and sharpness.
Well done.
Good morning.
Krzysztof

mesutilgim (115458) 2019-05-17 0:43

Hello dear Silvio, my neighour
Another nice capture and entry in your gallery taken with very good pov and compo.
Very nice and photogenic cloudy sky creates a perfect background.
Many good and usefull notes as well.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

GyurMaster (16650) 2019-05-17 1:02

Dear Silvio,

This place is so beautiful that looks unrealistic. How can such a beautiful town exist? :)

Nice capture, anyway.
Best Wishes,
Gy

holmertz (83352) 2019-05-17 1:40

Hello Silvio,
Fantastic architecture in a very good photo. I like the diagonal accent and the many tones of grey against the blue sky. Colours and contrasts are perfect.
Kind regards,
Gert

Nicou (188486) 2019-05-17 1:44

Hello Silvio

quel ciel quelle église et ce bandes blanches dans ce ciel quelle vue et iamge quel captage avec le maisons en fond la belle rosaces superbe.
Bravo et amitié
Nicou

ChrisJ (152428) 2019-05-17 1:45

Dear Silvio,

I did see this building from the lookout in yesterday's upload but headed downhill instead of uphill. A marvellous blue sky with puffy white clouds and superb overall sharpness. Tfs!

lousat (121037) 2019-05-17 2:07

Ciao Silvio,prima o poi mi dovrai confessare se i cieli in certe foto come questa sono originali o hai fatto una sostituzione col photoshop..eheh...comunque la vista è sensazionale,non vedo l'ora di andarci! Buona giornata,Luciano

snunney (130965) 2019-05-17 2:15

Hello Silvio,
An excellent composition perfectly suited to the vertical frame. I like how the buildings rise diagonally terminating in the impressive cathedral with its elegant campanile. The lovely sky makes a delightful backdrop. Very good technical realisation.

Sergiom (115636) 2019-05-17 5:37

Ciao Silvio,

Un très beau cadrage vertical qui profite à merveille des beautés du quartier au pieds de la cathédrale tout aussi spectaculaire et d'un ciel à faire rêver.

Amicalement

Serge

jhm (191377) 2019-05-17 5:38

Ciao Silvio,

The Cathedral of Matera against a nice blue sky.
Lovely architecture with the different buildings and roofs.
Very well composition, excellent presentation.
Nice done, TFS.

Best regards,
John

abmdsudi (81592) 2019-05-17 5:57

Hi Silvio
Stunning cathedral sitting up there with its intricate designs where depth and perspective are accentuated by the strong vertical lending to a delightful photo impact. Brilliant in tones, rich colours and details. Great effort and your quality work as always, Congrats.
Best regards

dta (95538) 2019-05-17 8:21

Cia Silvio ,
Your serie in MAtear is absolutely beautiful . With many attractive skies . Splendid architecture and excellent framing and composition , from the tiled roof in the Fg to the bell tower of the beautiful cathedral .
Regards

Miguel82 (35896) 2019-05-17 12:13

Silvio, the cathedral of Matera illustrates the Apulian Romanesque architectural style. Its tower dominates Matera town and one can enjoy stunning views from its top. Some houses were built very close to the monument dating from the thirteenth century. Amazing sky

federico (5779) 2019-05-17 13:48

ciao Silvio molto bella e colorata questa veduta verticale materana, perfetta saturazione e esposizione, ottima la composizione inoltre
complimenti
Federico

PiotrF (42716) 2019-05-17 15:11

Hello Silvio,
Interesting view of Cathedral of Matera.
I like wonderful composition, nice colours and good sharpness.
Good shot, fine presentation
Regards
Piotr

pierrefonds (93579) 2019-05-17 16:28

Hi Silvio,

The houses are framing well the cathedral. The point of view is showing the details of the cathedral of Mater. The design is impressive. Have a nice day.

Pierre

macjake (92631) 2019-05-17 22:50

Hi Silvio
oh man, this is just too good :)
i don't care if that blue sky is saturated a little bit, its just so attractive, especially up against the contrasting sandstone colours. love how the scene climbs up the frame too. sweet shot
cheers
Craig

Tue (71910) 2019-05-18 0:41

Hello Silvio,
A glorious day with a beautifully blue sky and some attractive white clouds, which make a great backdrop for the town. A good vertical composition with the church rising up proudly on top of the hill.
Lars

ktanska (36425) 2019-05-18 2:26

Hi Solvio,
Excellent angle on this medieval cathedral. The town around it looks certainly equally old. Very nice sky. Good direction of light creating contrasty result.
Kari

carlo62 (81029) 2019-05-19 7:14

Ciao Silvio
il simbolo di Matera visibile da ogni parte, un punto di riferimento bellissimo in mezzo a questo panorama meraviglioso.
Ottima inquadratura, eccellente qualità.
Saluti
Carlo

Cricri (176) 2019-05-19 9:28

Ciao Silvio
Très belle présentation, bon choix du format, belle lumière, un ciel superbe
Belle soirée
cricri

mkamionka (53796) 2019-05-19 10:58

Ciao Silvio,
brilliant capture. I like the roofs and walls in the foreground. From them the view stretches further to the church, which you have lovely placed in the frame, off centre.
Great light and of course very decorative sky to top it up.
Beautiful final effect!
M

jmdias (91967) 2019-05-23 9:43

silvio

lovely vertical view showing the cathedral and its beautiful details and the texture and aspect of these old roofs in the lower part. very beautiful.

take care

jorge

tyro (29026) 2019-05-26 8:20

Ciao caro Silvio,

What a fascinating note! I was absolutely enthralled to read how such wonderful discoveries were made during construction work early last century and that a piece by piece reconstruction of the history of this ancient place was able to be made!

And your photograph of this majestic cathedral does the place perfect justice, the fine structure standing proudly on high against a clear azure sky while the nearer, lower and more rustic buildings make up a fine foreground.

Glorious light, true colours, perfect exposure and exquiiste depth of field and sharpness.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

mcmtanyel (54589) 2019-05-30 20:50

Hello Silvio,
I like the layers of historic buildings under mostly blue skies in this photo.
Regards,
MT

claudeD (47754) 2019-06-01 10:51

Hello Silvio,

very fine architecture picture from Matera showing this interesting cathedral in perfect sharpnesss and clarity. I like the postcard view very much.Tfs.

With regards from Luxembourg

JC