Castellana Caves

The Grotte di Castellana is a cave in Castellana Grotte, Province of Bari, in Puglia.

General

The cave is about 2 km southwest of Castellana Grotte. The area is characterized by fragile karst. The rock is soluble by rainwater. Due to the physical and chemical processes in the cave stalactites, stalagmites and other limestone deposits such as wall interaction have emerged.

The Cave

The cave was discovered on 23 January 1938 by Franco Anelli. Franco Anelli and Vito Matarrese explored the cave. Even before the discovery of the hole in the ground has been known, but was only used as a landfill.

The cave can be visited on a guided tour. There are two different tours, one is about a kilometer long, the other about 3 kilometers. The visit starts always in the Grave, a cave with a depth of 60 m width of 100 m and a height of 100 m. The second path leads up into the white grotto, the stalactites have here the color of alabaster. The second way is only accessible to a limited number of visitors since the cave has no natural ventilation.

The Museum

At the cave heard the speleological museum Franco Anelli. Here the origin of the karst cave is shown. There are also finds from the cave to visit.