Locanda di San Martino


Useful Information

Location: via Fiorentini, 71, 75100 Matera.
(40.666772, 16.607583)
Open: All year daily.
[2008]
Fee: Low Season: Single EUR 121, Double EUR 201, Double with view EUR 201, Junior Suite EUR 251, Suite EUR 291.
High Season: Single EUR 150, Double EUR 171, Double with view EUR 191, Junior Suite EUR 221, Suite EUR 261.
Thermae: Adults EUR 25, Hotel Guests EUR 20.
[2021]
Classification: SubterraneaCave House
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: 40 rooms, 33 in the hotel, 7 in the surrounding caves.
Guided tours: n/a
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:  
Address: Locanda di San Martino, Hotel e Antiche Termae Romanae, via Fiorentini, 71, 75100 Matera, Tel: +39-0835-256600, Fax: +39-0835-256472. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History

1993 inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Description

The Locanda di San Martino hotel is one of numerous cave hotels in the Sassi of Matera. At some point the number of hotels exploded around 2000 and the newer hotels needed something to make a difference. This one has an underground bath, named The Ancient Termae Romanae, which accessible for anyone, not only for hotel guests. However, the caves of Matera were built in the Middle Ages, most actually in the 18th and 19th century. The bath is the reproduction of a ritual site consecrated to the myth of the Medusa. In the apodyterium (dressing room) visitors leave behind any object putting it into a locker. Wrapped into a towel, an ancient ritual of meditation and purification starts. First the anti-tepidarium with 28 °C offers a warm shower and a dry heat room (50 °C). After 10 to 15 minutes, with warm water ablutions to rid yourself of any tension, descend into the round cistern of the tepidarium (30 °C). After a short rest continue to the calidarium or hammam (45 °C, 100% humidity), immersed in a steam bath for 15 minutes. The heat opens the blood vessels, eases stress, and creates a state of pleasant fatigue. After another round you move on to the frigidarium (29 °C) where a hot herb tea and a glass of cool water flowing from the mouth of the Medusa are offered.