The rock church of Santa Maria de Armenis is a place of worship inside the Sassi of Matera.
The Church of Santa Maria de Armenis is part of an ancient Benedictine monastery of Armenian monks who came to Matera around the 11th century. In 1093 it was visited by Pope Urban II, at the time itinerant for the presence in Rome of the antipope. It was the first to rise on the outskirts of the city and belonged to a Benedictine community until it was incorporated into Palazzo Lanfranchi in 1684. The three-lobed portal leads to the inner courtyard from which the rooms of the old monastery overlook. Architectural reliefs are visible in the crypt while the façade is made of late Romanesque style masonry. The entrance is surmounted by a round arch with an engraving in Latin letters: "S.Maria De Armeniis".
