South Italy-Basilicata region Matera city's pictured rockcarved churches

Extant wall paintings in rockcarved churches of Matera city, located in Basilicata Region of South Italy, is related to socio-political, religious and cultural dynamics of the region. Geological structureof the region, mobility of the borders between 9th and 17th centuries, cultural permeabilty affected and shapedthe iconography of the churches that were investigated. In this thesis work,architectural features of the selected fourteen rock carved church are introduced and painting programs are investigated. The traces of ruling political powers, changingreligious and worship forms, the Crusades and their results can be seen in the painting programs of these churches. By comparisons, historical periods of picturesthat have been produced in different dated located in the same religious buildings are determined. Keywords: Matera,Puglia, Basilicata, Rockcarved, Lombard, Byzantine, Norman, Byzantine, Italo-Byzantine, Orthodox, Latin-Catholics, Crusades.