Matera will be the European Capital of Culture in 2019, a title that has previously been held by that other World Heritage Site, Liverpool – although the two could hardly be more different.

My visit was in August 2015, after a pretty unexciting trip to Castel del Monte. Matera was by contrast a refreshingly interesting WHS. Nowadays tourists can stay in converted Sassi and others are shops or restaurants, but most stand empty, making the district quite eery when you find yourself in a quiet area.

There are numerous small churches and preserved dwellings you can go in to, but they all charge a separate entry fee – so visiting them all would be costly. We found the rock-hewn Church of the Madonna delle Virtù and its connected monastery particularly worth visiting, as well as the church of Santa Maria de Idris in the Monterrone outcrop. We also enjoyed a large platter of typical Basilicata food (all kinds of vegetables and cheeses).

Water was not in short supply on the day we visited – at least, not in the vicinity. As you can see behind me, there was an ominously grey sky, which – although it didn’t rain on Matera – shot out thunderbolts in a manner that made it feel pretty Biblical.