Piazza Duomo and the cathedral terrace

The cathedral sits on the ridge between the two Sassi, and the paved terrace beside it looks straight down over the Barisano roofs. It is the easiest strong frame in Matera: level ground, no stairs to reach it, and depth that goes on for a kilometre behind whoever you are photographing.

The square itself is dressed stone and mostly empty outside the evening passeggiata, which makes it useful for the formal half of a session — a wall, a doorway, a lamp — before you drop into the lanes below. Late afternoon light rakes along the façade; at midday the square is bright and flat and better used for the view rather than for portraits.

It is also the practical start point: from here you can walk down into either Sasso and come back up by a different set of stairs, so a session that begins at the cathedral rarely repeats itself.