Stand at the rim of the Sassi at dusk and you understand why location scouts never leave Matera alone. No cables, no billboards, no traffic — just carved stone falling away into a ravine, looking more or less as it did centuries ago. Cinematographers call it a city with no anachronisms. Directors call it Jerusalem, Themyscira, or simply the most dramatic backdrop in southern Italy.
1964 — Pasolini finds his Holy Land
Pier Paolo Pasolini searched Palestine for locations for The Gospel According to St. Matthew and came home unconvinced — then found what he needed a few hours from Rome. The Sassi, still half-abandoned after the forced relocations of the 1950s, became his Jerusalem. The film, shot with non-professional actors and bare-bones austerity, is now regarded as one of the great religious films; it also began Matera's second life as a set.
2004 — The Passion of the Christ
Forty years later Mel Gibson followed Pasolini's footsteps for The Passion of the Christ, filming extensively in the Sassi and on the Murgia plateau across the ravine. The film's global reach did something unexpected: it put Matera in front of hundreds of millions of viewers just as the city's restoration was gathering pace, and the visitors started coming. Walk the paths of the Parco della Murgia Materana — the crucifixion scenes were staged on this stark, beautiful plateau — and the frames compose themselves.
2016–2018 — Hollywood settles in
The remake of Ben-Hur (2016) rebuilt ancient Jerusalem here on a blockbuster scale. Wonder Woman (2017) borrowed Matera's lanes and stairways for the Amazon city of Themyscira — proof the stone can play myth as well as scripture. Mary Magdalene (2018) came for the same timeless light. By now, locals were used to sharing their morning espresso queue with unit crews.
2021 — Bond comes to town
Then came the big one. The pre-title sequence of No Time to Die opens Daniel Craig's farewell in "Matera, Italy" — no fictional stand-in, the city as itself. James and Madeleine drive in over the ravine, romance the town at golden hour, and then all hell breaks loose: the Aston Martin DB5 hammering through impossibly narrow Sassi lanes, a motorcycle launched over walls, and the instantly iconic scene of the DB5 spinning donuts under gunfire in a stone piazza, machine-guns blazing from its headlamps.
Two useful truths for pilgrims. First: almost the entire chase threads real public streets around the Sassi — you can walk the route in an easy hour and recognise corner after corner. Second: the soaring arched bridge from which Bond swings, and Vesper's tomb, are not in Matera — they're in Gravina in Puglia, a ravine town about thirty minutes away, stitched to Matera in the edit. Locals enjoy letting visitors in on the trick.
The filmography at a glance
| Film | Year | Matera plays… |
|---|---|---|
| The Gospel According to St. Matthew | 1964 | Jerusalem, for Pasolini |
| King David | 1985 | The biblical Holy Land |
| The Passion of the Christ | 2004 | Jerusalem, seen worldwide |
| The Nativity Story | 2006 | Bethlehem & Judea |
| Ben-Hur | 2016 | Jerusalem, blockbuster scale |
| Wonder Woman | 2017 | Themyscira, city of Amazons |
| Mary Magdalene | 2018 | Ancient Judea |
| No Time to Die | 2021 | Itself — at last |
A one-hour film walk
- Start at the rim of the Sassi near Piazza Vittorio Veneto — the establishing-shot view that opens a dozen films.
- Drop into Sasso Barisano and follow the panoramic Via Madonna delle Virtù along the ravine — chase-scene country, with the rock churches above.
- Climb to the Cathedral terrace on the Civita for the skyline Hollywood keeps buying.
- Continue into Sasso Caveoso past San Pietro Caveoso and Santa Maria de Idris — the amphitheatre where Jerusalem was staged, twice.
- Finish on the terraces of Piazzetta Pascoli at golden hour, when the whole city turns into its own colour grade.
The Bond side trip: Gravina in Puglia
Half a day is enough for Gravina: stand under the monumental arched bridge Bond leaps from, walk its span above the ravine, and have lunch in a town that feels like Matera's quieter cousin. Around thirty minutes away by car (or a short hop by regional train), it pairs perfectly with a relaxed long weekend.
Questions guests ask us
Can I visit the film locations for free?
Yes — the chases, processions and panoramas were all shot in public lanes and squares that never close. You only pay to enter interiors like churches, museums or the cistern.
Where exactly was the DB5 donut scene?
In a stone piazza in the heart of the old town — ask us at check-in and we'll mark the exact spot, plus the jump and the best chase corners, on your map. It's a better ten minutes than any tour bus.
Is the Bond bridge in Matera?
No — that's the aqueduct-style bridge of Gravina in Puglia, about 30 minutes away. Matera and Gravina were cut together into one town on screen.
What should film lovers watch before visiting?
Pasolini's Gospel for the soul, No Time to Die's first twenty minutes for the adrenaline — and you'll spend your first walk here recognising both.
Sleep on the set
The lanes 007 drove are a short walk from our door. Base yourself in the middle of the most filmed city in southern Italy.
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