Polignano a mare is well known, and not only in Italy, for its enchanting landscape beauty. A crystalline sea washes its coasts in overlapping layers, like ” a book impetrated by time “, and laps and foams in the numerous caves, which, from north to south, open into the cliff.
From the sea you can see the entire conformation of the coast, dotted with ravines and caves, curlicues of stone that rise above the water and preserve in their riverbeds wonders of vastness and depth of proportions as well as richness of colours, mixed by the shades of the limestone slapped by the mistral storms, from the splashes of sea waves and from the darts of light, which fall askew from the universe and bounce between stones and water.
The Polignano caves, mostly registered in the speleological register, deserve to be visited to enjoy the phantasmagoric play of light, which dazzles inside, the result of refraction between a shining sky and a clear sea, and to admire the prodigious work of the burin, that nature, using water and wind, has been able to accomplish over the centuries. An enjoyment that needs time. In a week it is possible to get excited about this gruyere of the earth, which smells of salt and sounds, according to the whine of the winds, the sweetness of calms and the harshness of storms.
You can reach all the caves by rented boats.
The Ripagnola cave
The Ripagnola cave , the northernmost of the caves, opens in the locality of the same name at a distance of a thousand meters from Cala Fontanella (or Cala Fetente, according to its contemporary name). It is far from the town of Polignano and, due to collapses of the vault, a visit is not recommended for those without speleological skills. The cave can be photographed from the outside, leaning against a nearby rocky spur.
The caves of Santa Caterina
The caves of Santa Caterina are wedged into the cliff for many tens of meters and, as usual, offer a small pebble beach at the far interior. They open in pairs near the well-known Tuccino restaurant . The first cave has large boulders at its entrance, which collapsed due to a previous collapse of the vault, and an easy entrance. The second is larger than the first, which is entered through a very large entrance. Both are worth a visit coming from the open sea but it is possible to view their conformation from a small external rocky offshoot.
Grottarco
Proceeding from the north towards the town of Polignano, you come across the ” Grottarco “, which is not a cave but a stone arch, carved over time by meteorological agents into the high and massive wall of the rock. It is visible from the top of the cliff but its most fascinating images are enjoyable coming from the open sea. There are similar ones along the coast, but this is certainly the most impressive.
A very short distance from Grottarco, stands the complex of arches and caves [1] in the Chiar di luna area. The name of the site was borrowed from the name of a small chalet, now disappeared, which between the 1950s and 1960s offered rich menus of genuine delicacies from our sea.
In September 2015 a dolphin chose to beach itself in the “large cave under the red ridge” between Grottarco and the Chiar di luna arch. It is common to meet these cute mammals, who love to play in our sea, as happened in the early morning of 7 April 2016, under the houses of Polignano and in the waters of Cala Porto. During your visit to the caves you may see them very closely or swim side by side with them.
Grotticella of the Water of Christ
Following the route, you come across many other small and large caves: from that of Cala Ponte , once very large but collapsed in an unknown period, to the small but graceful one – another blue cave in the sixteenth century – under the compact ridge on the side north of the subsequent Cala dei giunchi, where there is also the cave of the two arches , barely recognizable due to ancient collapses, and the small cave of the Acqua di Cristo , so called because it provided the people of Polignano with slightly brackish healing water, also used for kneading flour and make bread or for preserving olives in brine. A small stream flows inside, still active, which, about a hundred years ago, an attempt was made to make accessible through a large artificial excavation, with a circumference of a dozen meters and a depth of five meters [2] . The entrance to the cavity is so difficult that it would be preferable to avoid accessing it just to be able to taste the very fresh and, at one time, very pure water.
This artificial excavation, still open today, is very dangerous due to the presence of increasingly numerous swimmers. It is a true miracle that it was not the origin and cause of any misfortune. It should be urgently reported and limited or filled in and possibly used for an oasis of Mediterranean greenery in the ruggedness of the almost completely barren rock
The seal caves
After the little Acqua di Cristo cave, you come across the seal caves. They are two large caves, very deep but with a small entrance, which is recommended to be visited only if you do not suffer from claustrophobia. From the bottom of the caves you can admire the exit, illuminated by the eastern or midday sun.
The swallow cave
At a distance of just one hundred meters there is the Grotta delle Rondinelle, one of the best known and largest caves on the northern coast, easily accessible from the back as well as from the sea . It features a vast vault suspended about six or seven meters above the water’s surface – another miracle of the Polignano cliff which stands admirably due to a play of pushes and counter-thrusts but above all due to the benevolence of the Creator – it is frequently visited and photographed in summer and it is also used for daring dives both from the top of the ceiling and from the sheer walls, which can be climbed if you have some experience with rock climbing.
I will not dwell on the description because anyone can consult specific articles or publications and because this writing only tends to give some suggestions on the caves to see and to plan a visit close to the holidays in Polignano.
Cave of the engaged
Only by swimming can you enter the very nearby Grotta dei Fianzati , a small cave whose entrance is very low above sea level, below a very high and compact cliff. It takes its name from the intimacy it offers to those who want to escape the gaze of the numerous bathers.
The blue cave
Under the first offshoots of the town, in the Grottone area, the blue cave offers a captivating spectacle of reflections through the sun’s rays which penetrate below a wall suspended in the water for approximately three metres. A recurring phenomenon in the Polignano caves, increasingly visible also in the Palazzese Cave, in the hours in which the sun reverberates its light in the openings of the caves, now facing west, now facing east or south.
The flat cave
Under the built-up area of the old town there once opened the flat cave [3] . It was a large cave with a flat roof and not very high (just over two metres), located below the well-known Hotel Covo dei Saraceni . Due to its static danger, it was shored up a few years ago and from the ancient extensive cavity, after years of consolidation work, a narrow corridor has emerged, which connects the pebbly beach with the open and deep sea, a delight for divers.
Under the mighty S.Stefano bastion, which appears granite in its compactness, unfolds a network of large cavities interconnecting with each other and reachable through an underwater passage that ends at the surface of the water below the well-known balcony overlooking the sea, frequented by dozens of thousands of visitors throughout the year, and once used as a platform for the world high diving championship.
The archbishop’s cave
Surmounted by many buildings of the old town and partially by the amphitheater of Piazza San Benedetto, where numerous public events of cultural entertainment take place, the archbishop’s cave is very large, with one of the largest entrance portals on the coast. Looking at the outside from the right, you notice a small natural arch, which can be crossed by swimming or with a small vessel. It is also among the most famous and fascinating because it is right below the old houses of the ancient residential area, all miraculously clinging to the rock for centuries.
The Palazzese cave
The Palazzese cave is a wonder of nature. The Palace Cave, so called because it was incorporated into the assets of the Palace by the Leto family, feudal lords of Polignano from 1713 to 1794, is the largest, most precious and most famous cave on the entire Polignano coast
The cave under Favale
The cave under Favale and the Pietropaolo cave are worth visiting, with your eyes turned upwards and from the deep interior towards the dazzling light of the entrance. Not to be confused with the small cave under Favale , located to the right of the house of the same name looking from the sea. Filippo Franco Favale was a meritorious scholar of local history (he deserves to be remembered with the naming of a public place) and lived in a house above the cave.
The Ardito cave
The Ardito cave takes its name from its ancient owner, the priest Don Giuseppe Ardito, who had a long staircase [6] dug into the calcarenite for easy access. It is the only cave of which there is historical news of a partial collapse, which occurred in 8 January 1772.
The staircase was used until a few decades ago by the inhabitants of the Pozziglioni district to be able to bathe in the sea that laps against it in the absence of any other landing place, which unfortunately still does not exist today. An epigraph in Latin reads as follows: Advena ne paveas/ difficiles hic/at non descensus averni/quippe/ ad grata aequora balnea ducit/atque piscationem iucundam/quem/ut, sibi, suis incolis, exteris/ solatium creat/presbiter Joseph Ardito/ libero sumtu/perduro silice irrupto/componi ornari aedesque adstrui/curavit /AD MDCCCXXIV (Do not be afraid, o foreigner, you are not descending into hell but rather you are going towards a very pleasant place to bathe and sunbathe.). This staircase, adds the epigraph dictated by the priest, was made not only for himself but also for the inhabitants and fishermen of the district etc. In short, once upon a time natural heritage was willingly socialized, unlike what is done today in which it is possible to privatize even a square centimeter or to appropriate what is public for commercial purposes! In short, from the epigraph we understand the generosity of a man who made his property available to third parties.
The Sella cave
Don’t miss the opportunity to admire it. It is one of my favorite caves like the next one. The Sella cave takes its name from the presence of a natural arch on the sea side, perforated in five places (one of which is so large that one can dive in two), which is what remains after the collapse of the internal part of the cave in very remote times. time. In the inlet before the small port of Torre Incina there is the waxy cave, so called due to the effect of the reflections of light on the rock, which seems to be covered in wax.