La Grotta della Civita – The Italian Hotel Built Inside An Abandoned Medieval Grotto

If you had an opportunity to spend a night in a medieval Italian grotto, would you take it? What if we told you it was an astonishing site with more than several thousand years of history, would that peak your interest? How about if you knew that till about 70 years ago, people living in primitive conditions inhabited the grotto, but that since then, it was renovated into one of the most beautiful hotels in the world, then would you be interested in staying there?The La Grotta della Civita took about 10 years to remodel. From a series of uninhabitable caves, it was transformed into an 18-room hotel featuring an impressive restaurant on premises. The limestone carved dwellings and the old-school cobble stone roads only add to the historic and rustic appeal of the magnificent residence.Each room has simple but tasteful décor that truly captures the essence of the historic spot.It’s located in the UNESCO-listed town of Matera around the Gravina River Valley, and is considered to be one of the first spots on which humans settled in the entire country.As part of the rising Italian urban planning movement, the hotel is considered to be “Albergo Diffuso”, meaning a diffused hotel. It works to ensure that significant historic sites aren’t demolished in order to make room for new construction, but instead to have the new projects implemented into the existing structures, so as to preserve their historic dignity.Mr. Daniele Kihlgren, the owner of the hotel, is a Swedish-Italian entrepreneur who ran the major effort responsible for the remodeling and restructuring of the grotto. Realizing that his effort could open up amazing commercial opportunities without compromising the historical soul of the country, he and his company seek to continue this type of urban planning. For now, La Grotta della Civita is one of the more unique attractions in Italy.Photo and Information Source: www.sextantio.it