ORBIS city intelligence

Buying in Matera: Carved Stone, Terracotta and Lucanian Food

Matera sells three different kinds of thing, and each one needs its own question before you buy.

BG Arte: lamps carved from local stone

BG Arte carves its lamps by hand from the local stone sold as tufo, which its site explains is a calcarenite.S1 Ask how a lamp will be packed if it has a flight ahead of it.

Il Bottegaccio: terracotta, maiolica and a craft cave

Mario Daddiego’s workshop sells maiolica and terracotta, including the cuccù, Matera’s brightly painted terracotta cockerels, and the city’s bread stamps.S2 Its nativity figures are made in papier-mâché.S2

The workshop also offers a visit to its craft cave, which is booked by telephone through its contact page.S3

Le Lucane: packaged Lucanian food

Le Lucane sells Lucanian food through its online store, including slow-dried artisan pasta and peperone crusco powder, and gives Via delle Beccherie 13/15 as its address.S4S5 Ask how long an opened jar keeps before you buy several.