Top 10 things to do and attractions in Castellana Grotte

You are not allowed to take pictures beyond a certain point. For me, the most amazing caves I ever saw. The experience is totally worth it. The entire area around is also very nice. It's not too slippery, not too cold. The guides are nice, tours are available in many languages. Booking in advance is recommended

It was like Cheddar Gorge in England, on steroids. Definitely worth a visit. You can only take photos in the first cave which was the least amazing, because of a risk of flash damaging natural fungi etc. This was the least amazing cave. I went on an arranged tour.

Nice cave but for us the experience was totally ruined by the 'can't be bothered' miserable attitude of the staff. One in the front and one in the back making sure that nobody took a surreptitious photograph, apparently, we were told because of the copyright of the company. I don't think you can copyright caves. More to do with the guards wanting to get through as quickly as possible. We were put in a massive group of around 100. All different nationalities, with an 'English Speaking' guide, although I'm English and I was picking up maybe 3 words of each sentence it was that bad. I could hardly see above people's heads we were so tightly packed and moving so quickly. No time to stop and admire the cave .. just rushed through like cattle. Twice we passed small Italian groups, all ambling along taking flash photos and video, yet we were rushed through so fast on the uneven floors, most of it badly lit. I'm surprised nobody fell and had an accident. We've been in lots of caves. Usually you go through alone, with headsets explaining the system. Some have music and light shows, making it very dramatic. This one is just boring. Not worth €18 per person. Total rip off.

Great experience! The 50 min tour suitable for small kids (4 & 6 y.o. enjoyed it). A bit to brief for adults/teenagers. During a 1km walk you're going to see a few amazing stone formations, hear a bit of history about the caves, and have a chance to imagine how this place looked like before it was turned into a tourist attraction. No need for any special shoes or outfits - a jacket and a pair of sneakers would do.

Fantastic caves, but the experience is totally spoiled by the way it's run. It started badly when we were charged to park out car in a large car park in the village centre not far from the caves. But since the caves are the only attraction in town, the cost of parking ought to be included in the ticket price for visiting the cave. After buying our tickets, we were shown to the "planetarium" which is a miniature imax-style surround cinema where they played an animated film about possible alien life on other planets. But nobody could see it. The projector was so feeble that it took a couple of minutes of dark adaptation to seven see the image. And then people kept opening the door, causing bright sunshine to flood in and ruin the dark adaptation. They also give you pretty terrible 3D glasses that make the picture even dimmer. I guess this planetarium show is there to stop kids getting bored between tours of the caves, and it's a nice idea in principle. But the fact that they didn't invest in a decent projector system and didn't fit a light-proof entry system means it actually irritating for a lot of people. I heard lots of murmurings of "well that's 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back" upon leaving. But my biggest gripe of all is the actual cave tour itself. Not only do they try to stop you from taking photos beyond the first cave, but there's no mention of this at all before you buy your tickets. I LOVE visiting caves and have visited hundreds of them over the years. This is the first time I've been prevented from taking photos. I asked one of the two ladies what the reasoning was, and she said "Because it's our copyright". Which is total nonsense. Nobody has copyright over things that they did not create. And caves are created by the action of water over millions of years, they aren't man-made! I ignored their protestations and continued to take plenty of photos. In the end they stopped trying to stop me. I later looked up what possible genuine reasons they might have, and it's to protect the rocks from the effects of flash. Well why isn't that a problem in any other cave anywhere else? In any case I was taking photos and videos using a phone and a GoPro. There was no flash involved. If they really have a problem with people bringing proper cameras with powerful flash, then they should just tell people that photos are okay as long as there is no flash. Another problem is with the way the tour is guided. The tour guide at the front made an effort for people to gather around her before speaking, but her very soft voice was impossible to hear, especially since some of the visitors had brought babies who were crying the whole way. Inside the caves all you could hear is the crying of babies. Many cave site tour operators get round this by using radio mics with speakers hidden behind rocks in the caves. That way the guide doesn't have to shout, and everyone can hear easily. But no, there was nothing like that here. In summary, my biggest gripe is about their ridiculous ban on photography. For some of us, taking photos of the spectacular rock formations is a big reason for visiting in the first place. Admittedly they do say "no photography" in the guide they give you, but you don't see that until after you've bought your ticket. Pretty nasty way to operate. There's no good reason for them to ban photography, especially if you're doing it without a flash. But if you're to afraid to stand up for yourself, enjoy some of mine.

Cool tourist attraction, but be sure to wear comfortable shoes with good grip — the caves are very slippery inside. The long tour was interesting, though I’d recommend the shorter 50-minute option.

Excellent visit to these extraordinary caves. Well worth a visit if you're in the area. A lot more F walking, but very safe to do so - and there's a lift to take you back to the surface!

The park is fine. But price vs the duration of the tour is just not worth it.

Overpriced. Old and not good maintened.

It's a 20min activity maximum, unfortunately.

It is waste of money...All the exhibits are old. Only one is mechanical. Almost none of the descriptive panels were legible. Not worth it.

Expensive for what it is. We we're done in 15 mins, kids spent longer in the gift shop than the park.

Not worth the price at all. Poor quality and old. You will be out in less than 20 min.

Wouldn't go out of your way to travel here. My daughter walked it in less than 10 minutes. I think charging 6 euros per person is expensive considering. I would have been happy to pay 6 euros and my 3 year old free.

It's a lovely sanctuary with some very nice people!

So so beautiful and peaceful. The lady was working there was excellent.

(Translated by Google) In the Marian sanctuary, located in the upper part of Castellana Grotte. Welcoming church where it is possible to venerate the Madonna della Vetrana. (Original) Nei Santuario mariano, situato nella parte alta di Castellana Grotte. Chiesa accogliente in cui è possibile venerare la Madonna della Vetrana.

(Translated by Google) A place of worship, welcoming, sensorial, with a strong emotional impact, where you can spend time in prayer and inebriating the soul, in addition to the pleasant visual and cultural reality. (Original) Luogo di culto, accogliente, sensoriale, di forte impatto emotivo, dove trascorrere del tempo in preghiera e inebriante l'anima, oltre alla piacevole realtà visiva e culturale.

(Translated by Google) The Convent is a unique place for Castellana G, where our Mistress is the great symbol of the Plague that caused so many deaths, and which she with ❤️ took away this evil. (Original) Il Convento è un posto unico x Castellana G , dove la nostra Padrona grande simbolo della Peste che provocò tanti morti ,e che lei con ❤️ portò via questo male .

(Translated by Google) The miracle of my life ❤️ (Original) Il miracolo della mia Vita ❤️

(Translated by Google) Very beautiful and well-kept place (Original) Luogo molto bello e ben tenuto

Dumb, nauseating, ridiculous video-scam about alien life. Tickets are sold by a nearby info-point as "included in the tickets for the caves". Complete BS. This is not necessary at all. Buy tickets for the caves directly at the ticket office which is actually close to the caves.

They have colluded with 'Tourist Information' to carry out a scam, stealing 6 euros per tourist. Be cautious!

Only Italian language. Image is bad. Go to the cave directly. this is not worth doing.

Tourist trap, beware no air conditioning

Tourist trap

Absolute scam

(Translated by Google) These people work on the edge of scamming. While we were going to the entrance to the Castellana caves, a guy stopped me and pointed out the ticket office. I asked for the 4 tickets for us and the girl said, "I'll explain how it works." She made me understand that the entrance fee, a good €6 more than I expected, included the planetarium being part of the caves and was a sort of preliminary. They took the money and gave me a handwritten piece of paper with my name and the time, and told me that they would then give me the other entrance ticket. So, after having endured half an hour of a documentary about life in the universe that had nothing to do with the caves, it was in 3D, and they gave us glasses that didn't work. The guy who runs it didn't even bother to connect them to the charging cable. I discovered that they were the ones who went to the real ticket office in our place, and I'm sure of that because, after calling them by name, they handed an envelope with the tickets to the others in the group. Inside, ours weren't there, they had forgotten and so the girl went inside to make them and we followed her and saw the "movement" and then she delivered them to us by hand. You can draw your own conclusions. (Original) Queste persone lavorano al limite della truffa, mentre andavamo all’ingresso delle grotte di castellana mi fermato un tizio indicandomi la biglietteria, ho chiesto i 4 biglietti per noi e la ragazza mi dice” le spiego come funziona “ e mi fa capire che nel prezzo dell’ingresso , ben 6€ in più di quello che mi aspettavo il planetario faceva parte di quello alle grotte ed era una specie di preliminare, si sono presi i soldi e mi hanno consegnato un foglietto scritto a mano con il mio none e l’orario, e mi hanno detto che poi mi davano l’altro biglietto di ingresso, quindi dopo esserci sorbiti mezz’ora su un documentario sulla vita nell’universo che non centrava niente con le grotte, tra l’altro era in 3d e ci hanno dato degli occhiali che non funzionavano il ragazzo che gestisce la cosa non si dava nemmeno la pena di collegarli al cavetto di ricarica ,ho scoperto che invece sono loro che andarono alla biglietteria vera al nostro posto, e sono sicuro perché agli altri del gruppo dopo averli chiamati per nome hanno consegnato una busta con i biglietti dentro, i nostri invece non c’erano, si erano dimenticati e così la ragazza è entrata dentro a farli e noi l’abbiamo seguita e visto il “movimento”e ce li ha poi consegnati a mano . A voi le conclusioni

(Translated by Google) Located in the historic center of Castellana Grotte, the mother church is dedicated to San Leone Magno, it was built in 1383, expanding an already existing Romanesque church to which a defensive Norman tower was annexed, later converted into a bell tower. On the sides of the main facade you can admire the statues of Leo the Great and John the Baptist, until then placed internally on the main altar, while on the pediment there is the sculpture of the Madonna Consolatrice. The interior of the recently restored church has certainly lost the aesthetic beauty of the bare stone, because everything was covered with white mortar (Original) Ubicata nel centro storico di Castellana Grotte, la chiesa matrice è dedicata a San Leone Magno, fu edificata nel 1383, ampliando una già esistente chiesa romanica a cui venne annessa una torre normanna difensiva, poi convertita in campanile. Ai lati della facciata principale si ammirano le statue di Leone Magno e di Giovanni Battista, fino ad allora collocate internamente sull'altare maggiore, mentre sul fastigio vi è la scultura della Madonna Consolatrice. L'interno della chiesa recentemente restaurata ha perso senz'altro la bellezza estetica della pietra nuda, perché il tutto è stato ricoperto da malta bianca

(Translated by Google) Looking at the outside one does not expect a renovated interior with white plaster; this operation hid the original stone and took away a lot of charm from this church. Where the stone remains, it is possible to appreciate the beauty of an ancient building steeped in history. Of note is an ancient fresco that can be admired at the entrance. (Original) Guardando l'esterno non ci si aspetta un interno ristrutturato con intonaco bianco; tale operazione ha nascosto la pietra originaria e ha tolto molto fascino a questa chiesa. Laddove la pietra è rimasta si riesce ad apprezzare la bellezza di una costruzione antica pregna di storia. Di nota è un affresco antichissimo ammirabile all'ingresso.

(Translated by Google) Church in Castellana, closed during our visit (Original) Eglise à Castellana, fermée lors de notre passage

(Translated by Google) You can get married in the center of the town! (Original) Ci si può sposare in centro al paese!

(Translated by Google) Austere and sober at the same time, it offers some truly unique excerpts of sacred art from the past. (Original) Austera e sobria al contempo offre alcuni stralci d'arte sacra del passato davvero unici.

(Translated by Google) A beautiful mother church in Castellana Grotte in the historic center. I have been there several times for ceremonies and the parish priest is a person open to the Christian community. (Original) Una bellissima chiesa madre a Castellana Grotte nel centro storico. Ci sono stata diverse volte per cerimonie e il parroco è una persona aperta alla comunità cristiana.

(Translated by Google) Church founded in the Angevin period of which the beautiful rose window on the facade with fretwork decoration remains and in the first bay a fresco of the Annunciation. Renovated in the eighteenth century, it houses valuable baroque altars, a splendid canvas by Vincenzo Fato, who was responsible for another 4 canvases. Furthermore, there are six large canvases in the central nave by Roppoli del Miglionico and Magliar. A true artistic treasure are the sculptures of Aurelio Persio which in ancient times constituted the altar cone (Original) Chiesa fondata in epoca angioina di cui.rimane il bel rosone in facciata con decoro a traforo e nella prima campata un affresco dell'Annunciazione. Rifatta nelle forme nel settecento ospita dur.pregevoli altari barocchi, una splendida tela di Vincenzo Fato, cui si devono altre 4 tele. Inoltre del Roppoli del Miglionico e del Magliar sei grandi tele nella navata centrale. Vero tedoro artistico sono le sculture di Aurelio Persio che anticamente costituivano la cona d'altare

(Translated by Google) Small mineralogical museum with interesting samples and diagrams for a theoretical understanding of the karst and geology of Puglia (Original) Piccolo museo mineralogico con interessanti campioni e diagrammi per una comprensione teorica del carsismo e geologia della Puglia

(Translated by Google) All very interesting and informative (Original) Tutto molto interessante e istruttivo

(Translated by Google) Nice place (Original) Bel posto

(Translated by Google) The Tacconi municipal villa in Castellana Grotte when they hold many events and dance evenings, there is a lot of movement, otherwise it is deserted. But, I like it when it's deserted like these photos. There is a beautiful air and a tranquility. Little to add (Original) La villa comunale Tacconi a Castellana Grotte quando fanno tante manifestazioni e serate di ballo , c'è molto movimento , altrimenti è deserto. Ma, a me piace quando è deserta come queste foto . C'è una bell'aria e una tranquillità . Poco da aggiungere

(Translated by Google) A beautiful green space, away from traffic, perfect for relaxation, concentration, and the little ones' entertainment. Divided into two sections, the upper section is more of an Italian garden that hosts events, especially during the summer, while the lower section has a more "wild" charm! (Original) Un bel polmone verde, lontano dal traffico adatto per il riposo, la concentrazione e lo svago dei più piccoli. Divisa in due settori, quello superiore risulta più giardino all'italiana che ospita eventi, specie durante la bella stagione, quello basso, invece, ha un fascino più "selvaggio"!

(Translated by Google) Very spacious ideal for musical events (Original) Molto spaziosa ideale per eventi musicali

(Translated by Google) Set up for Christmas it's a love... (Original) Allestita per Natale e' un amore...

(Translated by Google) A beautiful villa where, once you cross the entrance gate, you can breathe an air of history and times gone by. A place that, although visited in just a few steps, exudes history and is beautiful, well-kept and happily green. Kudos to whoever keeps it so perfect. (Original) Una bella villa dove, varcato il cancello di ingresso, si respira aria di storia e dei tempi che furono. Un posto che, seppur visitato in pochissimi passi, trasuda storia ed è bello, curato e felicemente verde. Complimenti a chi lo tiene così perfetto.

(Translated by Google) A night at the pizzeria ended badly, full of kids who threw firecrackers the entire time, even at people passing by. (Original) Una serata in pizzeria conclusa male, piena di ragazzini che hanno lanciato petardi per tutto il tempo, anche addosso a chi transitava di passaggio.

(Translated by Google) A place that has great potential, but neglected in the greenery, dirty and the fence walls that delimit the green areas are partially collapsed and crumbling. The stone floors are raised by the roots of the trees and are therefore dangerous to use. (Original) Un luogo che ha un grande potenziale, ma trascurato nel verde, sporco e i muretti di recinzione che delimitano le aree verdi sono parzialmente crollate e fatiscenti. Le pavimentazioni in pietra sono sollevate dalle radici degli alberi per tanto pericolose nella fruizione.

It's our main church in town. Be aware, it's always cold! (Very good for summer days)

(Translated by Google) It is a comfortable but small place of worship and on summer days it is also very hot even when the sun has already set. (Original) È un luogo di culto confortevole ma piccolo e nelle giornate estive fa anche molto caldo anche quando è già calato il sole.

(Translated by Google) It is not a monument church, it is now used for the vigil of the bodies awaiting the funeral. (Original) Non è una chiesa monumento, ora viene usata per la veglia delle salme in attesa del funerale.

(Translated by Google) Everything OK (Original) Tutto bene

(Translated by Google) In this church the deceased loved ones are placed awaiting funerals... (Original) In questa chiesa vengono messi i cari estinti in attesa dei funerali...

(Translated by Google) Beautiful church remained as it once was (Original) Bella chiesa rimasta com'era un tempo

(Translated by Google) Ancient monument recently restored. (Original) Antico monumento recentemente restaurato.

They could not be bothered. Give it a miss.

Amazing experience!

(Translated by Google) Thanks to Anna and Filippo for organizing the interesting tour with tasting in the welcoming cellar of @terrecarsiche1939 it was all very interesting. Dynamic company founded in 1939 and directed by Nicola Insalata. The primitivo Gioia del Colle Fenova, awarded this year with the Tre Bicchieri Gambero Rosso award, is excellent, as is the Cavabianca made from Bianco d'Alessano, Chardonnay and Fiano and aged in the Castellana caves. A beautiful discovery! (Original) Grazie ad Anna e Filippo per aver organizzato l’interessante tour con degustazione nell’’accogliente cantina di @terrecarsiche1939 è stato tutto molto interessante. Azienda dinamica fondata nel 1939 e diretta da Nicola Insalata. Ottimo il primitivo Gioia del Colle Fenova insignito quest‘anno dei Tre Bicchieri Gambero Rosso e anche notevole il Cavabianca a base di Bianco d'Alessano, Chardonnay e Fiano e affinato nelle grotte di Castellana. Una bella scoperta!

(Translated by Google) We stopped by spontaneously, and the nice lady gave us a very warm welcome. We were allowed to taste three wines and were very satisfied! (Original) Wir sind spontan vorbeigefahren und die nette Dame hat uns sehr herzlich empfangen. Wir dürften 3 Weine verkosten und wahren sehr zufrieden!!

(Translated by Google) Amazing tasting! The wines are a guarantee and the buffet was delicious with local and quality products. A special thanks to Anna who made everything even more fun and engaging. (Original) Degustazione stupenda! I vini sono una garanzia e il buffet è stato buonissimo con prodotti locali e di qualità. Un grazie soprattutto ad Anna che ha reso tutto ancora più divertente e coinvolgente.

(Translated by Google) Excellent experience if you love drinking good wine and being in good company, Anna is a professional in the sector, she will take you to taste and discover their very nice wines. We particularly enjoyed the Agorà rosé Abundant €25 buffet (Original) Ottima esperienza se amate bere buon vino e stare in buona compagnia, Anna è una professionista nel settore, vi porterà ad assaggiare e scoprire i loro vini molto simpatica. Abbiamo apprezzato particolarmente il rosé Agorà Buffet da 25€ abbondante

(Translated by Google) Excellent wine (Cava Bianca 2022) and courteous customer service that puts the customer first. Thank you! (Original) Ottimo vino (Cava Bianca 2022) e servizio clienti cortese che sa mettere il cliente al centro. Grazie!