Top of the World
Piazza del Sedile represents the musical heart of the city: some of the buildings that overlook it house, in fact, the classrooms of the conservatory “Egidio Romualdo Duni”. During the fourteenth century it was called “Piazza Maggiore” and was the commercial center of the city: it housed the market, warehouses and stores. Later, around the middle of the sixteenth century, there were located the offices of the governor, the prisons and the municipal building, precisely “il sedile”, which transformed it into the political and administrative center.
The Palazzo del Sedile is the most important building of the square: it was built in 1540 to fulfill the function of the seat of the municipal meetings of the city university. The present structure is due to the restoration works carried out in 1779. The palace consists of a large entrance arch; at the top, on the sides, there are two small towers in rococo style; on the first one there is a sundial and on the second one a clock; in the middle, above the arch, there are the statues of two of the patron saints of the town of Matera: Saint Eustace on the left and the Madonna della Bruna on the right.
Until 1944 the building housed the offices of the municipal administration, is currently the headquarters of the conservatory. The basement, which is also very interesting, has been used for the realization of an auditorium intended to host concerts and cultural events.
