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Now I stay for 3 weeks in Magdeburg, Germany for study. This saturdy was rainy but then arriver nice sunny sunday, so It was great day for some trip. I decided to visit small but beautiful and famouse antique town Quedlinburg. It's about 70 km (1 hour by train) from Magdeburg and it's UNESCO World heritage site. There are thousands of old houses in the ols town and a castle on the mountain. It's one of the best-preserved medieval and renaissance towns in Europe, having escaped major damage in World War II.
History of Quedlinburg goes back up to the 10th century! Quitilingaburg is first mentioned in 922 in an official document of Henry I (the Fowler), who was elected German King in 919.
Enough about history, I want to show you photos! Golden fall and good weather are best ingridients to make good photos!
Today is Sunday, Jan 2, and we didn’t want to stay at home. We decided to make a trip to Matera where we've been going to from long time.This town is not big and it’s placed in 150 km from Brindisi in Basilicata region. Matera is listed in 1993, in the World Heritage List by UNESCO. World fame was brought to it’s old house-caves, carved directly into the rocks. These rock structures are called the Sassi (Stones). The oldest of them have about 7000 years. In a new caves there are churches, some of which age date to the VI century. In some churches remained intact frescoes dated to the XI-XII century. Many famous directors made their films here, including the film of Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ".
Up to 1950 those caves were habited by people. You will not believe it, but there were lived about 15,000 people, the half of the population of the city! They had no sanitation, and the water was collected in a stone tank during the rain.
Currently, Matera consists of two parts: a modern upper town and a historical low town, which is called Sassi. Going down to the old city, you come like in a different world. Beautiful view of the low town: 
This is view of the most ancient rock caves from the low town. They abandoned long time ago and placed on the other side of river.
Here is one of the abandoned house-caves:
Here's another one: 
This house is kept intact as a museum. House partially caveted in the rock, partially built. In this small accommodation has lived a family of 11 persons: two adults and 9 children, with all domestic scrap. Animals lived in the same room in the corner. 
This is kitchen:
You think, where they all sleept? Adults with one/two of smallest children sleept in the bed.
At night, the bottom drawer dresser and a chest for storage of food were turned into beds. 
On this little bed slept another baby: 
Matera in miniature: 
Piazza del Sedile (Sedile square) in upper town:
After the walk we were hungry and went to find agriturismo, a restaurant-ferm in the nature near the city. This is a magnificent panorama of fields around the town:
We didn’t find agriturismo, but in the neighboring town Altamura we tumble on such a beautiful little restaurant. Many years ago, it was a church. Owner told that it was built in the XV century, but from the original church now you can see only two small frescoes.
With this post I'm starting a series of articles about cities and places in Puglia - wonderful region with many traditions and long history.Yesterday after lunch we decided to make a trip in one fairy place. It called Valle D’Itria. This is a small valley between hills far 50 km from Brindisi. It’s a green stretch of countryside dotted with the famous whitewashed cone-roofed trulli houses. It is officially one of the Borghi piu belli d'Italia, the most beautiful small villages in Italy.
The roof of trulli is made up of stones without a single drop of cement or binder solution. Only last stones and decorative stone on the top attached with cement.Also in all the south of Puglia you can see such fences of stones:
They also built without a cement but are still in good condition after so long time. The secret is that the stones are carefully selected. And on the top they put the bigger stones which their weight give solidity.
In the center of Valle D’Itria placed Alberobello. Its historic center is under UNESCO protection. But today we had not gone there, I'll tell about this town another time. Today we visited Locorotondo, another beautiful small town in the Valle D’Itria. Valle D’Itria is famous not only with trulli but also with it’s wine and cheese “Cacciocavallo”. After traveling between vineyards, fields and olives, we arrived there in the evening.Look, what a beautiful sunset in the midst of the valley:
Christmas is coming and the city started to be decorated with holiday lights:
The valley is located in the hills, so there are always a few degrees colder then in Brindisi and in winter is often snow. Today the temperature is +5 C, but feels colder. You can see the snow:
The historic part of town - the centro storico - is circular and perched on top of a hill. It's a whitewashed maze of little lanes lined with historic buldings, some humble and faded, others retaining rather grand baroque archways and architectural details.
Called, at the origin, "Casal S. Giorgio", its name was changed before in "Casal Rotondo", then in "Luogo Rotondo" and at the end in "Locorotondo". In dialect they call it "U’Curdum"Locorotondo is in the Guinness because it is the unique town in the world with a name with 5 letters O.Are you waiting the story about Alberobello?
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