Matera and Venice, two cities that at first glance couldn’t seem more different.

One made of stone, the other of water. One southern, the other Adriatic and Byzantine. And yet, countless threads connect these places, and MaterVenezia reveals them one by one—from beauty to tradition, from the loss of urban spaces to the emergence of new immigrant communities, with stops along the way for kestrels, seagulls, and whale skeletons. With his syncopated and evocative prose, Andrea Semplici explores places and people, history and environment, opening unexpected perspectives and prompting us to reflect on how we live (or fail to live) in our cities—and on the consequences already beginning to show.

The book is accompanied by a series of photographs by the author.

Year of publication: 2024
Language: Italian