This is a view of the old section of Matera, a town built literally out of the rocky hillside. The modern dwellers of these buildings are called the Sassi.
"In the town and surrounding area there are some 130 churches hewn out of the rock. These date back to the 8C CE and the arrival of oriental (non-Latin) monastic communities who settled locally and in Puglia. They were adept in this form of underground architecture which shows a Byzantine influence."