The Amazing Cave Village in Matera, Italy

The Sassi is a town of stone homes caves and a group of renowned cave houses set against the Gravina Valley. It is "the most outstanding, intact example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, perfectly adapted to its terrain and ecosystem. The first inhabited zone dates from the Palaeolithic, while later settlements illustrate a number of significant stages in human history." -Unesco.org

The albergo diffuso project is 18 hotel rooms spread over several buildings where extreme care has been taken to keep the structures in tact. You can see by the before and after pictures that all they've seen to have changed was adding some furniture and picking up chunks of rocks. It's quite a cool story that you can read at the hotel's website - http://www.sassidimatera.com/


Here are the rooms restored:










The caves before restoration:





The area and exterior:





very cool no? I'd also like to point out that you can make reservations online - but prices aren't listed ;)