Vetera Matera – Two MICHELIN Keys carved into the Sassi

Vetera Matera spreads across eighteenth-century noble palazzi, millennial caves and an ancient cloister in the historic Rione Vetera, one of the very few five-star alberghi diffusi in Italy. It opened in April 2025 after an eight-year restoration, and became one of only three Italian hotels to debut directly with Two MICHELIN Keys. It stands as the only five-star hotel affiliated with Relais & Châteaux in the Lucanian capital, run by the Bellevue Group's Russo Attanasio family alongside the owner of the restored properties. Guests move between hypogeal suites carved into the rock and rooms on the noble floors looking out over the Sassi, and eat at Artema, the hotel's underground restaurant led by chef Eduardo Estatico, set in a vaulted room reached through the internal courtyard where ancient stone meets contemporary elegance.

01The house

The hotel sits in the heart of the Sassi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the historic Rione Vetera district, where cloisters and terraces rise vertically from the Vicinato to the Paradeisos garden of Barisano. Restoring the cluster of dwellings took eight years, and the hotel opened its doors in April 2025. The project belongs to the Bellevue Group, run by the Russo Attanasio family, hoteliers for five generations, working alongside the owner of the various historic properties on which Vetera now stands.

Furnishings throughout are kept deliberately spare, so that the architecture and a growing collection of contemporary art can carry the atmosphere. Lifts, rare in a city built on steps and ramps, connect every level of the hotel. The Relais & Châteaux affiliation places Vetera within a non-profit association of some 580 hotels and businesses across 65 countries, chosen for character as much as comfort.

02Rooms and suites

Vetera's 23 rooms and suites divide between hypogeal spaces carved directly into the ancient rock, with natural vaults, and apartments on the noble floors with high ceilings and large windows looking over the Sassi. Eight of the twenty-three are suites, ranging from underground chambers to rooms that face the rooftops of the Barisano.

Insider tip

A few steps from the cathedral belvedere and Piazza Duomo, on foot from the Sasso Caveoso promenade.

In the five Hypogeum Suites, walls and ceilings are carved from pale, sinuous porous rock, with plunge pools set into a lower level for guests unbothered by the dark. Sizes run from a 52 square-metre Junior Suite up to a 104 square-metre King Suite.

03Where to eat

Crossing the hotel's internal courtyard leads to Artema, set in an underground room carved into the rock, where ancient stone meets contemporary design and dinner is the only service offered. Chef Eduardo Estatico, born in Naples in 1985 and previously in the kitchens of Il Faro di Capo d'Orso, where he earned a MICHELIN star, interprets the iconic dishes of Lucanian tradition with a creative touch and a Neapolitan soul.

Local meats, vegetables and cheeses take the lead, alongside Matera's own protected bread. Two tasting menus carry his signature: "Basilicata in verde", a vegetarian route through the land and mountains of Lucania, and "In viaggio con Eduardo", a more personal itinerary in which each dish keeps a memory from Naples to the Sassi.

04The bar

Aperitifs move to the Amonì Terrace, the panoramic space that completes the hotel's dining offer alongside Artema and the rock-set Elysium Spa. A wine and cocktail bar sits on the same terrace, with a secret cellar reached by its own staircase, where guests can choose a bottle to take back to the table or book a tasting among the stone.

05Spa and wellbeing

The Elysium Spa is laid out among cisterns and rock grottoes, with relaxation pools carved into the rock itself. It opens from ten in the morning until eight at night, and takes outside guests by reservation. Among its treatments is a Zerobody session, floating weightless on 400 litres of heated water.

06The neighbourhood

Matera ranks among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, its tuff caves carrying some eight thousand years of history. The hotel stands a few steps from the cathedral belvedere, and close enough to Piazza Duomo and the promenade that leads toward the Sasso Caveoso to reach either on foot.

07Making the most of a stay

Guests can also book a cooking class with the Artema kitchen team, learning orecchiette, cime di rapa and the secrets of taralli before sitting down to taste the results with wines paired from the cellar.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.