La Gatta Buia

Matera


With a sleekly decorated bar and dining areas and a menu that goes beyond Basilicatan classics, 'The Good Cat' is another feather in the cap of Matera's increasing sophistication. Wines from Lombardy, Piedmont and Abruzzo join the local drops to help you wash down veal cheeks braised in Aglianico wine, or Sicilianesque pasta with cod, raisins, pine nuts, tomatoes and olives.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Matera attractions

2. Cathedral

0.11 MILES

Set high up on a spur between the two natural bowls of the sassi, the wan, graceful exterior of the 13th-century Pugliese-Romanesque cathedral makes the…

3. Museo Nazionale Ridola

0.14 MILES

This impressive collection includes local Neolithic finds and some remarkable Greek pottery, such as the Cratere Mascheroni, a huge urn more than 1m high.

4. Museo della Scultura Contemporanea

0.14 MILES

The setting of this fabulous museum of contemporary sculpture – deeply recessed caves and the frescoed rooms of the 16th-century Palazzo Pomarici – is as…

5. Casa Noha

0.15 MILES

Highly recommended as a precursor to visiting the sassi themselves, this wonderful 25-minute multimedia exhibit, spread across three rooms of a 16th…

6. Palombaro Lungo

0.18 MILES

This giant cistern, arguably as magnificent as a subterranean cathedral, is one of Matera's great sights. Lying under the city's main square with arches…

7. Chiesa di San Pietro Caveoso

0.19 MILES

The only church in the sassi not dug into the tufa rock, Chiesa di San Pietro Caveoso was originally built in 1300 and has a 17th-century Romanesque…

8. Chiesa di Santa Maria di Idris

0.19 MILES

Dug into the Idris rock, this church has an unprepossessing facade, but the narrow corridor communicating with the recessed church of San Giovanni in…