Located in the village of Matera, in southern Italy, the hotel is based on the owner’s concept of total immersion, where all 18 rooms are located inside the Sassi caves themselves.
They were very clever in keeping the integrity of the caves intact by using the original architectural materials from the area, disguising the use of modern technology and maintaining the new design to a minimum. The article is fully by TheDesignerPad.
The decor of the rooms is very basic using plain furniture built out of recycled materials, yet keeping the rural historic tradition through colors, textures and scents identified with the area.
Where elements needed to be added to bring in modern ammenities —such as bathrooms which didn’t exist in the original structure— they felt a minimalist approach was best suited.
Their philosophy was not to betray the ‘soul’ of the building, but to preserve the caves’ rural heritage.
Info/pictures: Grotte Della Civita via thedesignerpad
