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MATERA

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 878 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MATERA , a See also:

city of See also:Basilicata, See also:Italy, in the See also:province of See also:Potenza, from which it is 68 m. E. by road (13 M. S. of the station of See also:Altamura), 1312 ft. above See also:sea-level. Pop. (1901), 17,801. See also:Part of it is built on a level See also:plateau and part in deep valleys adjoining, the tops of the campaniles of the See also:lower portions being on a level with the streets of the upper. The See also:principal See also:building is the See also:cathedral of the archbishopric of See also:Acerenza and Matera, formed in 1203 by the See also:union of the two bishoprics, dating respectively from 300 and 398. The western See also:facade of the cathedral is See also:plain, while the utmost richness of decoration is lavished on the See also:south front which faces the piazza. Almost in the centre of this south facade is an exquisitely sculptured window, from which letters from the See also:Greek See also:patriarch at See also:Constantinople used to be read. The campanile is 175 ft. high. In the vicinity are the troglodyte caverns of See also:Monte Scaglioso, still inhabited by some of the lower classes, and other caves with 13th-See also:century frescoes. See also:Neolithic pottery has been found here, but the origin of the See also:town is uncertain.

Under the See also:

Normans Matera was a countship for See also:William See also:Bras de Fer and his successors. It was the See also:chief town of the Basilicata from 1664 till 1811, when the See also:French transferred the See also:administration to Potenza.

End of Article: MATERA

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