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Equal to the largest cistern in the world at Istanbul. If you need a guide message me, have a direct number. Unlicensed guides subject to fines.

Great to get an idea what's possible in the soft stone of Matera in terms of size -A good guide definitely helps to understand, what is special about this very big cisterne. A small tour of 30 minutes let you see most of this cisterne and learn about it.

It's not possible to have a look at the cistern by yourself; you have to go in a tour. Nevertheless, it looked as though it was going to be good. The lady I spoke to at the entrance was very friendly; she said there was no problem to have a tour in English in about 25 minutes' time; and the entry fee was only 3 euro. When it came down to it though, we were in an absolutely massive group all traipsing around together. The majority were Italian but there was a smaller group of tourists and the guide who I had previously spoken to explained that at each stop she would first say her bit in Italian and then in English. I sensed this was going to be a very long and boring affair and I was right. We English speakers had to patiently wait while she explained things in Italian and then the Italians had to do the same as they were sent on to wait at the next stop while she talked to us. I really can't understand the thinking. If there're many more Italian visitors, by all means have many more Italian tours but to group Italians and tourists together like this and try to do both at the same time simply doesn't work. You basically go down and up and then down and up again; there're quite a lot of stairs but railings all around and there's no way to go off course. I would have preferred to have been able to go round by myself even with just a leaflet explaining what I was looking at. When we got to the first "up" which was the last stop on the tour, there was a particularly long Italian bit and the English-speaking group seemed to just get bored and gradually wander back by themselves. I eventually did the same. I think it would be a good idea to rethink this set-up or at least explain clearly to people what's going to happen so they can make an informed choice (I wouldn't have bothered). It's really 2*, but the lady was nice.

The guide provided us with detail of life in Matera and how the water cisterns were built. He also spoke about Matera's long history passionately and with pride inforing us of its eventual recognition by Unesco.

A welcome respite from the summer heat and a testament to the engineering ambition of Italians! The scale is not unlike a cathedral and the combination of high ceilings above and water below creates some eerie acoustics and light reflections. It's hard to believe the place was "forgotten" for so long!

Because of this unique cistern system, the Sassi was declared a UNESCO world heritage sight. Anna our guide explained it very well in English. She is passionate about Matera and it shows.

Inexpensive tour looking at the ancient water collection system. Guide spoke many languages, which was great as our group was from all over the world. Only a 1/2 hr tour but worth the effort.

OK, I am exaggerating a bit but it was a fascinating short journey into this 5 million liter cistern used to collect rain water in the past, carved in the shape of long winding corridors, like a labyrinth 4-5 meters wide and 20-30 high.

This fascinating piece of history is easy to miss although it is accessed from the middle of the main square. An excellent explanation of the way the the cisterns were used to store and provide water for the people of the city. Only 20 mins or so but excellent english speaking guide made it well worth the visit

Amazing, incredible how they built this. The guide spoke in English and Italian, provided a lot of interesting details. So glad we visited.

Non perdetelo, e' un'opera da vedere, complimenti alla guida Anna che rende più coinvolgente la visita

Se non erro questa dovrebbe essere la seconda cisterna più grande d'Europa, rinvenuta sotto la centrale Piazza Vittorio Veneto dove sono visibili alcuni degli ambienti che formavano il fondaco di mezzo, il vecchio piano della città.

Su suggerimento della receptionist dell' hotel in cui soggiorniamo, ci rechiamo il sabato pomeriggio in visita a questa antica cisterna degli ipogei di piazza vittorio veneto; utilizzata per raccogliere l'acqua piovana attraverso un sistema di vasi comunicanti, ha permesso per molto tempo di distribuire acqua a tutta la città fino al secolo scorso. Ci accompagna nel tour una guida simpaticissima e preparata, e ancora una volta abbiamo avuto la possibilità di immergerci nella storia di Matera e ancora una volta ne restiamo affascinati!

Molto interessante la visita di questa cisterna sotterranea rinvenuta e sistemata per i turisti negli ultimi 20-30 anni. Una delle cisterne scavate più grandi d'Europa. L'ingresso è di 3 € e serve una guida per poter effettuare la visita.

Interessante vedere un pezzo della vita quotidiana del passato, sarà ancora più interessante quando espanderanno lo spazio di visita.