Palombaro Lungo (Palombaro Lungo Cistern), Matera

Palombaro Lungo (Palombaro Lungo Cistern), Matera (must see)

Beneath Matera鈥檚 Vittorio Veneto Square lies the Palombaro Lungo, a cistern of such scale and ambition that locals began calling it a water cathedral. The project began in the 16th century, when natural caves were stitched together to form part of the city鈥檚 water network, though the final push to complete it only came in 1832. By then, the underground chamber stretched long and deep, able to hold nearly five million liters of water collected from rainfall and nearby springs鈥攁n immense reservoir for a town where rivers were scarce and every drop mattered. Expansion continued into the 1880s, ensuring that Matera鈥檚 residents had a steady supply long before modern pipelines arrived.

The very name tells its story. Some link Palombaro to the Latin for a bird of prey diving toward its target, others to plumbarius, a term for water collectors, while Lungo simply nods to its enormous size. Step inside and the atmosphere justifies the reputation: arches and stone columns rise like the supports of a great basilica, their reflections dancing in the still water below. For generations, this hidden structure fed the square鈥檚 fountain above and supplied Matera鈥檚 households, until the Apulian Aqueduct, completed in 1920, finally made it redundant.

For decades, the cistern sat sealed and forgotten until 1991, when students climbed in with a dinghy and revealed what lay below. Their discovery, followed by careful restoration, offered the city not just a reclaimed monument but proof of its historic ingenuity鈥攅vidence that helped Matera secure its UNESCO World Heritage designation.

Today, raised walkways guide visitors across this immense chamber. With dim lighting, mirrored waters, and soaring vaults, the Palombaro Lungo feels both monumental and intimate鈥攁 reminder that Matera鈥檚 survival was literally carved out of stone.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Matera. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "黑料吃瓜网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

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Create Your Own Self-Guided Walk to Visit This Sight

Sight Name: Palombaro Lungo (Palombaro Lungo Cistern)
Sight Location: Matera, Italy (See walking tours in Matera)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Matera Introduction Walking Tour

Walking Tours in Matera, Italy

Create Your Own Walk in Matera

Creating your own self-guided walk in Matera is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.

Matera's Ancient Cave Churches

Within the old city of Matera, there are more than 160 churches. Many of these are actually carved into the soft limestone cliffs lining the Gravina River. There are even some used for pagan rituals. The churches were carved from existing caves and tunnels. More than a few sanctified cave churches have been converted to storage and homes.

A good example to start with is the St. Anthony... view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.7 Km or 1.1 Miles

Matera Introduction Walking Tour

Architectural historian Anne Parmly Toxey said the cave areas of Matera had been occupied for at least 3,000 years. Archaeological research shows people lived here since the Paleolithic era, shaping homes and communal spaces directly into the soft limestone. Over centuries, those modest caves expanded into an intricate neighborhood鈥攕tone dwellings, churches, and twisting passageways stacked upon... view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.4 Km or 1.5 Miles

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