Cattedrale di Santa Maria della Bruna e di Sant'Eustachio

The Cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the designation of the Madonna della Bruna and to Saint Eustace. Formerly the seat of the Bishops, later Archbishops of Matera, it is now the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Matera-Irsina.

The church was built in Apulian Romanesque style in the 13th century on the ridge that forms the highest point of the city of Matera and divides the two Sassi, on the site of the ancient Church of Saint Eustace, protector of the city. Construction began in 1203, the year in which Pope Innocent III raised Matera to the rank of an archdiocese in union with Acerenza as the Archdiocese of Acerenza and Matera, and was completed in 1270.

The west front is dominated by the rose window of sixteen rays and by the campanile on the left side, 52 metres high. The cathedral has a Latin cross ground plan and contains three naves, separated by round arches supported by columns with stone capitals. Much of the interior received a Baroque-style decoration in the 17th and 18th century, including gilded stuccoes and frames.

The interior has an Italo-Byzantine fresco depicting the Madonna della Bruna and Child, dating from 1270 and attributed to one Rinaldo da Taranto; the relics of Saint John of Matera, carved wooden choir stalls (60 in total) in the apse (1453), by Giovanni Tantino of Ariano Irpino; a sculptural group of a Pesebre (1534, Nativity scene) and painted limestone crib, both created by Altobello Persio; the Chapel of the Annunciation erected in Renaissance-style period by Giulio Persio; and a 14th-century fresco depicting the Last Judgment, which re-emerged during recent restoration work. The high altar has an altarpiece by Fabrizio Santafede depicting The Virgin with Saints.