GROTTE DI CASTELLANA

Today we want to talk about another beauty of the Puglia Region which is located a few miles from the holiday apartment Ostuni Palazzo Rodio. The destination that we propose today we recommend you to do it on Sunday, after having breakfast in the historic white alleys of Ostuni. With almost an hour’s drive you will have the opportunity to reach the Castellana caves , one of the jealously guarded places in the rich Puglia territory, this complex of underground caves gives pleasantly to sensitive visitors, revealing its wealth on a naturalistic level for a journey of true and intense pleasure, for the eyes and for the soul.

The Grave probably originated in the Upper Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, when our region was submerged by an ancient sea where shellfish and vegetables lived. The shells of these animals, then deposited on the bottom of the sea, gave life to a pile of mud and sand, then compressed and became the thick calcareous base, several kilometers. The subsequent raising of the land brought out this base, where fractures were created, in which the river water with intense rainfall, formed an underground aquifer that dissolved the limestone, creating small ducts and leading to the extraordinary panorama that we now have the privilege of being able to observe.

The initial attempts at serious exploration were futile, first of all because of the difficulties of penetrating, without adequate means, to almost 70 meters of depth, and secondly because of the legends and the halo of mystery that surrounded the place. For a long time it was assumed that the caves were the mouth of Hell: from the grave came voices and complaints (then brought back to the accidentally wounded animals that fell inside) and saw flames and fatal fires (due to the discharge in this place of waste and garbage). Only Anelli succeeded, not with little difficulty, to enter the Grave on 23 January 1938.

But this place seems to preserve still other possible discoveries, in fact the cavities are different along which it has not continued with the excavation, also to preserve the environment and avoid landslides and collapses. The limestone rocks of the caves, consisting essentially of calcium carbonate, of the limestone genus of Altamura, offer a very charming scenery, with stalactites, stalagmites, curtains that look like angel wings, crystals and some special eccentric stalactites against the current, which develop almost violating the law of gravity. We advise you to prefer the longest route to visit them, those of 3 km, where you will have the opportunity to explore chasms and caves that have been given mythological and fantastic names.

From the Nera cave to that of the Lupa, from the Calza della Ballerina, to the Civetta, up to the Precipice and the Piccolo Paradiso, the Corridor of the Desert, with the underground Grand Canyon, leads to a long path to the Laghetto di Cristalli. up to the spectacular White Grotto, where in the shining light of the pure white of stalactites and stalagmites, one realizes how infinite the existence of the world and of what in the presence may be, our human lives are but a very brief passage in the mystery of the immensity of the universe.

The Grotte di Castellana are located at 56 km from the Palazzo Rodio of Ostuni and are one of the beauties of the Puglia Region. For more information please contact us or visit the cave site: http://www.grottedicastellana.it

Source: https://www.puglia.com/grotte-castellana/