ACERENZA AND MATERA, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - A. rises on the ruins of Acheruntia, called "celsa" by Horace (Carm., III, 4, 13-16). Because of its position on the border between Apulia Daunia and Lucania, it was regarded as the most important defensive point of the two regions. It was later one of the strongholds of the Byzantine dominion in southern Italy and a garrison of Totila in the struggle between Greeks and Goths. Annexed to the duchy of Benevento, the lands of its gastaldate were, in 849, divided between Benevento and Salerno, but everything made it gravitate toward the orbit of Greek influence, so much so that the Lombard officials themselves ended up collaborating with the Byzantine government. In 1041 it was conquered by the Normans, and Robert Guiscard made it a bulwark of offense and a center of resistance for the reconquest of Lucania and Apulia. It was one of the few royal cities that sided with Manfred against the Pope and, later, with René of Anjou against Alfonso of Aragon.
The city declined little by little and in 1561 it counted only 2,000 inhabitants; the strong migratory currents did not allow it to flourish again. A. has an area of 77 sq. km., and is part of the province of Potenza, from which it is 42 km. distant. Major works to consolidate the built-up area have been begun in recent times to remedy the serious landslides produced by the rains. Very notable is the Cathedral, erected toward the end of the 8th century by Bishop St. Leo II, with three circular apses, a portal in the Romanesque-Apulian style and a Roman bust of Julian the Apostate, venerated in the past because it was supposed to be that of St. Canio, whose body was transported to A. in 799. Destroyed by a fire, it was rebuilt around 1082.
M. city of Greek origin, was a Roman colony (Mateola), occupied by Pyrrhus and by Hannibal. Devastated by the Goths, it was rebuilt by Belisarius and later united with the Lombard duchy of Benevento. Destroyed again by the Franks and the Saracens, at the end of the 10th century, after a brief period of Greek domination, it passed, in 1042, under the Normans and in 1133 under royal dominion. In 1663 it became part of Lucania, of which it was the capital until 1806.
The Cathedral is a magnificent construction in the Romanesque-Apulian style of the first half of the 13th century. Interesting are the two churches of S. Pietro Caveoso and S. Maria d'Idris, both situated on the Sasso Caveoso and the second almost entirely hollowed out in the heart of the rock. Numerous and notable underground Byzantine churches, scattered throughout the territory of Matera, attest to the flourishing of the Greek rite in the region. M. also possesses the remains of an ancient unfinished castle and an interesting palethnological museum with furnishings from the necropolis of Timmari. A provincial capital, M. counts 20,243 inhabitants; the province has an area of 3,793 sq. km. and a population of 157,002 inhabitants, distributed among 32 municipalities.
The diocese of A. was founded in the 4th century and its first bishop would have been Romanus, but the first prelate known with certainty is St. Justus, who took part in the Roman Synod of 499. In the 10th century the emperor and the archbishop of Constantinople unlawfully annexed A. to the Greek archbishopric of Otranto, and this transfer marked another victory of the Greek rite in Italy. In 993 it was united again with Salerno and at the Council of Melfi of 1059 elevated to an archdiocese; Alexander II in 1068 confirmed the measure and Paschal II, in 1106, assigned it as suffragans Venosa, Gravina, Tricarico, Anglona-Tursi and Potenza. In 1203, A. having almost disappeared, Innocent III raised the church of S. Pietro in M. to a cathedral so that the bishop could reside there worthily, but only in 1440 was M. elevated to a diocese by Eugene IV, and later united with A. aeque principaliter. To quell discords and local susceptibilities, in 1471 Sixtus IV decreed that the archbishop be called of A. and M. when he was in the territory of A., and of M. and A. when he was in the territory of M. In 1599 Clement VIII decreed the precedence of A. because of its ancient constitution and established the residence in M. The diocese of M. was suppressed in 1818, but, acceding to the prayers of the Archbishop and of the King, it was reestablished by Pius VII in 1822.
The archdiocese now has as suffragans Anglona-Tursi, Potenza, Tricarico and Venosa. It has united the abbatial title of S. Michele Arcangelo di Montescaglioso. The archbishop resides in A. from May to Oct., in M. from Nov. to Apr. In total there are today 168,794 Catholics out of 169,069 inhabitants; 185 churches, 31 parishes, 88 diocesan priests and 7 regulars.