FROM STATELY HOME TO CAVE HOUSES: IT’S ITALY NEXT

Our next adventure commences on Saturday as head to the heel of Italy to visit first the unusual city of Matera, and then on to the famed wine and olive growing region of Puglia. Matera is home to a network of cave houses long known as the “shame of Italy”, a far cry from the splendour of Chatsworth House which we visited last weekend.

Chatsworth is a marvel. Created originally by William Cavendish and his remarkably illustrious wife Bess Of Hardwick, who amassed enormous wealth through which Cavendish acquired the title Duke Of Devonshire, the house remains the seat of that title to this day. Indeed, the Cavendish family still reside there, in the shape of the 12th Duke, Peregrine Cavendish, who has overseen extensive refurbishment in recent years as well as perpetuating the historical theme of art collection.

The gardens are as remarkable as the enormous house, having been designed and re-designed in succession by a positive who’s who of England’s most famous landscapers. The Cascade, which falls down through 24 levels, is probably the garden’s most recognisable feature, and uses no artificial power: the water is simply captured from the surrounding hills and channelled through the gardens down to the River Derwent below. The 24 steps are each a different size and shape, so creating a different sound at each stage as the water descends the valley, such a clever feature.

Chatsworth’s history, from nobility to the imprisonment of Mary Queen Of Scots and a young Victoria’s first ever public function, is a fascinating read.

What opposites we will witness then in these few weeks, from the grandeur and opulence of an English stately home to a city of cave dwellings housing the poor who for years were hidden from the world by the Italian authorities, hence the “shame” moniker. And then there are the Trulli houses of Alberobello, all in our next adventure.  

Italy, and Puglia, here we come. Four days to go.